On Monday of this week, construction crews moved in to begin the construction of the recently approved new Malad Elementary School.  The construction process is scheduled to last until just before the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, at which time it should be ready for its inaugural class of students.  In the meantime, students will attend the duration of the 2023-2024 school year next door to the construction process.  While this promises to create some headaches for teachers, students, and parents alike, Superintendent Jon Abrams reiterated his belief that the tradeoff was well worth it at the groundbreaking ceremony on May 30.

“I think this is just really, really exciting,” Abrams said.  “And we had this idea to have you [kids] dig first.  Because this is for you.  We did this for you.”  Never missing a chance to return to his educator roots, Abrams led the set of students throw the process.  “In the military, we were taught to show someone how to do something so that they have a chance to do it right.  So what you do is, you get your shovel, get a little dirt, and you throw—forward, not back.”

“Normally we’d do it once, but today’s special,” he continued, after the first dirt flew.  “So you can do it as many times as you want.”  As the students delighted themselves shoveling dirt at will, Abrams spoke to the larger crowd.

“Really, I just want to say thank you.  When we started having this conversation about a year ago about maybe running a bond again, I got a little anxious.  I got a little sick to my stomach, and then I realized we’re really in an amazing situation as a district.  And to be able to do this, and not increase your taxes, and to build a beautiful school here—it’s just cool.  And we’re doing it for the kids, and for the community, and for the staff that will work here.  And I just want to say a big, big thank you to those of you who came out and supported us when we ran the bond, and to those of you who are supporting us being here.  I left the house and my wife said ‘do you think anyone’s going to show up?’  and I said ‘I don’t know.’”

The crowd of dozens of parents and students chuckled.

“It’s just so good to see you all here,” Abrams continued.  “And,” he said to the students, “for being here tonight you get to take that shovel with you.  You are now the proud owner of that shovel.  And thank you for representing all of your fellow students.”

“I also want to take a minute to thank the Board, who overwhelmingly supported this effort.  We’ve got an awesome board who are working hard to do whatever’s best for this community.”

After the students were done, representatives of a number of groups who had been instrumental to the passing of the bond took their turns, including Mayor Hawkins, Bill Lewis and Brian Jeppsen from the Board of County Commissioners, representatives of the school administration and staff, the PTO, and the OEF all took their turns.

The bond which allowed for the construction to move forward ended up passing with a healthy majority at roughly 86% of cast votes in favor, but it was not necessarily a sure thing from the outset.  Several bonds for a new school had failed in recent years for a variety of reasons, including tax increases, the feeling that a new school was not necessary, and to some extent sentimental attachment to the building many locals had spent their childhood years in.  

One major change to the bond landscape this time around was the State Equalization Bond legislation, passed since the last bond attempt.  The equalization bond created a matching source of funding that accounted for around a third of the total costs.  Another change was the massive increase in enrollment at IHLA as a result of Covid.  Because district funds are allocated based on student enrollment, the massive influx of students into the IHLA program redounded to District #351’s benefit.  

Site inspections had also determined that a number of health and safety issues associated with the old school were in need of addressing as well, which would have presented a daunting cost to the district even without a new school.  Existing issues such as inefficient heating and cooling, outdated wiring and network support, and unused space within the building also contributed to a strong case for a new facility.  The lack of modern security infrastructure had also become noticeable over the last decade, as the number of school-based violent events has continued to escalate.  

Construction on the building was scheduled to begin earlier in the spring, but the late snow and continued rain made that impossible until the go ahead was given for this week.  The construction plan for the school calls for its completion by the time the class of 2024-2025 is ready to begin classes in the fall of next year, though that does mean that for the final year of attendance, students will have to endure classes next door to an active construction site.  Given the clear advantages the new school will represent, Abrams has explained that it will certainly be inconvenient, but also certainly worth it.