Gym, auditorium highlight facilities for school bond

The Mountain Home School District will ask voters to approve a $34.5 million bond issue on Sept. 6 that would complete Phase II of the long-delayed high school project.

In 1998, when the district built what is today the junior high, it anticipated at that time going for the Phase II bond to expand the facility into a high school in only a couple of years. But instead of climbing, enrollment in the district actually began to decline at that point (much of it on base), causing the district to delay completing the project. In recent years, however, enrollment has begun to climb again (almost all of it in town), forcing the district to re-evaluate where it is going to put all its new students.

The $34.5 million plan was the answer proposed to the district by a citizen's committee it set up to evaluate district needs last year.

The proposal would raise the taxes on a home assessed (after exemptions) at $100,000 by roughly $8.50.

The plan would create 26 new classrooms, greatly expand the gymnasium facilities, add a a 500-seat auditorium and provide for expanded vocational-technical facilities, among other aspects of the project.

This week in the print edition of the Mountain Home News, we look at two of the major facility improvements proposed as part of the bond, the new gym and the auditorium. Next week we'll look at what the proposal means for student education.

On Sept. 6, when voters will cast their ballots to decide the fate of the plan, polls will be open at all schools from noon to 8 p.m., as well as one site on base and one in Pine.