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Candidates say Emmett schools face substantial repair needs; support for levies conditional
Summary
Candidates at the Emmett School District forum described extensive deferred maintenance and expressed conditional support for bonds or plant facilities levies, citing multi-million-dollar projects and a need for itemized spending plans.
Several candidates at an Emmett School District candidate forum described large-scale deferred maintenance and said they would consider supporting bond or plant facilities levies — often with conditions.
Terry Jones, the incumbent candidate, said the district faces "$80,000,000 worth of repairs" and described a recently contracted HVAC project that "came in at $5,800,000." Jones listed upgrades he said were needed: roofs, parking lots, water heaters, safety lighting and relocation of the Black Canyon modulars to new property next to the high school.
Mona Barnes said she would support a levy "however...I want a laundry list of exactly what is going to be done." She said she would not back a levy that lacks specific priorities and cost estimates, and gave the example of community concern over prior spending on artificial turf and incremental facility improvements. Rick Johnston said he has "always supported bond and levy levies that have come before the public," recounting past local bond votes and the need to avoid leaving the district cornered with inadequate facilities.
Why it matters: Candidates' comments indicate that if the district asks voters for additional revenue, public appetite will depend on transparent, itemized spending plans. Several candidates tied facilities needs to long-running maintenance shortfalls and to enrollment and infrastructure demands.
Details cited during the forum included an HVAC retrofit reported at $5.8 million and candidate estimates that the district received roughly $10 million from the state for some projects (Jones said the district had about $10,000,000 from the state to allocate among several priorities). Jones also said the district recently paid about a quarter-million dollars to reroof two schools and noted that some projects come with code and rewiring constraints that raise costs.
No formal levy proposal was presented at the forum and no board action was taken. Candidates indicated differing thresholds for support: Barnes wants detailed lists and itemized cost estimates; Jones said the district "desperately needs" new money and listed facility moves and upgrades he believes are required; Johnston described prior bond votes and said he supports maintenance bonds when necessary.
Forum provenance: candidates discussed facilities needs and levy positions during the mid-portion of the forum's Q&A.
