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Board approves $7M capital-improvement plan; Highland rebuild advances to bid
Summary
Pocatello School District 25 approved the 2025–26 capital improvement (SIP) plan — funded primarily by property tax revenue — that allocates funds for Highland High School rebuild work and districtwide maintenance; bids are planned to begin in January.
The Pocatello School District 25 board voted to approve the 2025–26 capital improvement plan (SIP), authorizing the district to begin the bidding process for multiple projects, including work tied to the Highland High School rebuild.
Jonathan Balz, presenting the business-operations update, said the Highland rebuild construction documents reached 90% completion and are expected to go out to bid on Jan. 8. He described the bid and verification schedule: five weeks for contractors to submit bids and roughly two additional weeks for the architect and staff to vet and verify low bidders.
The SIP presentation outlined roughly $7,000,000 in expected revenues for the coming fiscal cycle (staff said approximately 81% comes from property taxes) and noted a proposed $3,000,000 commitment toward Highland in the recommended plan. Balz said the plan includes replacement schedules (roofs, boilers, flooring, security cameras), recurring maintenance and a contingency reserve; he emphasized the board will retain approval authority for final contracts after bids are received.
On PVTech, staff said classrooms have received occupancy approval and welding bays remain under construction; some CTE staffing and program changes are under discussion with Idaho School Boards Association. The board was told that certain buildings (Washington and Tendoy) have longer-term systems needs; staff cited estimates of multi-million-dollar upgrades for major systems in some older facilities and said structural evaluations remain necessary before committing to long-term use.
The board passed the SIP plan by voice vote. After the vote, Balz reiterated that bids will go out soon but that the board can remove or delay individual projects depending on bid results and further decisions about school facilities.
What happens next: staff will publish bid packets (Jan. 8 is the targeted bid date for Highland work), verify bids, and return recommended contract awards to the board for final approval.
