BOISE, Idaho — Idaho school districts would gain new options for spending state facility dollars under a bill that cleared a House committee unanimously Monday.
House Bill 636 would let districts use leftover money from the School District Facility Fund to secure loans and enter lease-purchase agreements for new construction. Tools that were previously unavailable to traditional public schools, though charter schools already had similar flexibility.
“Our bond success rate across Idaho is about 20%,” Rep. Sonia Galaviz (D-Boise), one of the bill’s sponsors, told KTVB. “So as we see communities denying bonds, we’re going to have to use the dollars that we have differently to be able to meet the needs of the facilities.”…