Middleton (Idaho) district gets state funding to build elementary

After five failed attempts to pass a bond that would have paid for a new elementary school and ease crowding, the Middleton (Idaho) district has received the money from another source. 

Idaho Education News reports that a state panel has approved Middleton’s application for $11.1 million from the ​​Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund, a recently revived loan program designed to help rural school districts pay for renovations or replacements of unsafe facilities.

The Legislature has made it easier for school districts to apply for the Cooperative Fund, which was created in 2006 but seldom tapped until this year. House Bill 338 increased the fund from $25.5 million to $50.5 million.

Middleton’s application followed an unsuccessful bond election in May — the district’s fifth consecutive failed bond measure since 2018. The district had asked voters to approve a $19.9 million bond to build an elementary school. Just 53% of voters supported the measure, which needed a two-thirds supermajority to pass.

Now, the district will be able to build the 400-seat elementary school. In addition to $11.1 million from the Cooperative Fund, the district plans to tap its $8 million share from House Bill 521, the state’s $1 billion school facilities funding package from last year.