Each household will pay an average of $75 per year.
But that price tag will ensure breathing space for students in the Jordan School District should residents approve a $154 million bond OK'd Tuesday night by the Jordan Board of Education."We need to have a bond. We're desperate. We're overcrowded," board member Ellen Wallace told an audience gathered at the district's Sandy offices. "I don't see any other way to go."
After months of research, board members in the state's second-largest school district voted to hold a bond election May 6 for considerably less than the $280 million a committee recommended.
But the board announced residents must continue to help pay for school buildings made necessary by waves of new subdivisions in the south end of the valley. The board agreed the district probably will bond again in three to five years.
The $154 million bond will buy five elementary schools plus a middle school and a high school in Riverton. It will also buy $8 million in land purchases for future school sites and $21 million worth of renovations to other school buildings.
The board will put new elementary schools at the following sites:
- 700 East and 14400 South, Draper's South Mountain area;
- 12800 South and 3600 West, Riverton;
- 9800 South and 3400 West, South Jordan;
- 4800 West and 8900 South, West Jordan.
- One other site will be designated next year as growth patterns emerge.
A middle school and a high school will be built in fast-growing Riverton. The middle school is planned for 4000 West and 13400 South, and the high school at 2700 West and 12600 South.
"I'm thrilled," Riverton Mayor Sandra Lloyd said. "It's very much needed." For the first time, Riverton students will go to school within the city's boundaries, she said.
With 1,700 students, Oquirrh Hills Middle School is one of the most overcrowded in the state. Some students are bused to Elk Ridge Middle School to relieve overcrowding.
A Riverton high school will boost community spirit, she said. "To have a high school with your city's name on it is one of the greatest prides a community can have."
Most Riverton high school students now go to Bingham High.
Jordan has filled new schools and classrooms as fast as workers can build them. In 1995, two elementary schools opened at capacity. One, Bluffdale Elementary, opened with three portable classrooms to house kids who wouldn't fit into the buildings.
"That was less than two years ago. That's the kind of growth we're experiencing in this district," Superintendent Barry Newbold said after the meeting.
The board voted to use the design plans from rebuilding West Jordan's Oquirrh Elementary after it was destroyed by fire. Despite criticism that Jordan and Copper Hills high schools are "too nice," the board will use that plan to build the Riverton high school.
The district saves money by duplicating plans, Newbold said.
New board member Shane Bo-dell asked for some reassurance that projects still not completed from the 1992 bond will be finished.
The money ran out before many of the projects promised as part of that bond were completed. Inflation and construction costs were to blame, Devon Sanderson, Jordan's top financial officer, told the board.
Workers are finishing 11 of 31 bond-related projects, and those that are left over have been given top priority, Sanderson said.
However, these projects aren't included in this year's bond proposal, Newbold said. "It wouldn't be fair to ask people to pay twice for those."
The district is in good financial shape, Sanderson said. With the amount of assessed valuation and debt level, it could legally bond for about $446 million.
Jordan still has about $118 million in outstanding debt from previous bonds. The district has an excellent bond history, Sanderson said.
The district can use the state's AAA bond rating to receive better interest rates. Many bond financing companies, including the New York firm Jordan uses, also require school districts to have a secondary bond rating, where the difference in ratings can mean several hundred thousand dollars.
Two smaller bond elections will allow the district to chart the path of growth over the next few years and place schools accordingly, said board President Jane Callister.
Voters are more likely to support a bond when school locations have been identified, she said.