Educational Facility Master Planning Process

Community members attend Facility Master Planning Dialogue Session at Cynthia Mann Elementary on August 30, 2016.

Voters Passage of Bond 2017
Supports Educational Facility Master Plan

Successful passage of the March 14, 2017 Bond Election in the Boise School District supports an Educational Facility Master Plan that is currently allowing the District to reinvest in our community's neighborhood schools.  The 2017 Bond Election was approved by voters (86% yes vote). Work is now underway on five capital projects - rebuilding Amity Elementary School, rebuilding Whittier Elementary School, renovating Boise High's old gymnasium, expanding programs at the Dennis Technical Education Center and building an addition onto Timberline High School.  

Educational Facilities Master Plan Background Information
As a result of considerable community input and engagement, Board members approved a $172.5 million bond election (March 14, 2017) to fund a 10-year Educational Facilities Master Plan.  During the Board meeting held on Monday, November 14, 2016 (when the Board voted to approve the 2017 Bond Election) several parents and patrons testified in support of the bond.

“This bond allows us to reinvest in strong neighborhood schools without raising the tax rate,” said Melissa Goode, a parent of three Boise school students. It’s accountable and addresses critical facility problems now so they don’t cost taxpayers more later.”

The bond would put more than $155 million into 22 major capital projects, including building six new schools on their current sites, a new school in the Harris Ranch area, as well as expansion of the District’s Professional-Technical center to offer Electrical, Plumbing and Heating-Air Conditioning job training classes.

“I don't know how we can continue to educate our kids without investing more into the facilities and the things that they have,” said Marty Cullen, owner of A1 Plumbing and Perfect Air. “We also have a skills gap in the trades. I believe this bond will address these issues.”

One of the schools to be rebuilt is Amity Elementary. Built in 1979, the school’s design, including sod on the side and roof has created serious structural issues.

“Any time the weather turns and starts to rain or snow the roof leaks throughout the building causing Amity to become unseasonably humid,” said Tessa Jones, whose children attend Amity. “In addition to the roof leaking, when I drop off my kids after a heavy rain the parking lot is flooded to the point that they need to be carried out of the car to avoid the deep water.”

Parents from Pierce Park Elementary and Valley View Elementary also provide supportive testimony.

Click on the following video images to hear from the five people who testified to the Board on November 14, 2016.

 
Marty Cullen
Owner
A-1 Plumbing
Boise
 
Tessa Jones
Parent
Amity Elementary School
   
 
Sarah Harris
Parent
Pierce Park Elementary School
 
Amy Lindenberg
Parent
Valley View Elementary School
   
 
Melissa Goode
Volunteer
Friends of Boise Schools
 
   

Bond Election To Provide Funding For 10-Year Educational Facilities Master Plan
 
The Board's unanimous decision to present a Bond Election to voters follows a special meeting held by the Board on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 where Board members approved a 10-year Educational Facilities Master Plan that:

  • Serves as a clear reflection of our community's commitment to high-quality neighborhood schools.
  • Provides direction for the District on how best to meet our most pressing facility needs regarding poor condition, overcrowding and improving educational adequacy while ensuring every school receives attention.
  • Puts the District on a path that will allow us to make significant facility improvements today while preparing for the educational needs of students well into the future.
  • Represents a thoughtful balance between hard data, demographic and enrollment projections and the input from parents, patrons, staff and students.  

Parents testifiy in support of Facility Master Plan on November 1, 2016

During this special Board meeting, a number of District residents, including those with and without students in the District, testified in support of the Educational Facilities Master Plan. 

Community Input Shapes Educational Facilities Master Plan

Community input is an important component to educational facility master planning. The public process of evaluating Boise School District's educational facilities began in earnest in the Fall of 2015.

The approved Educational Facilities Master Plan was the result of a 13-month public process that involved a number of public meetings with more than 5-hundred participants and two online surveys that generated 2,500 responses from community members regarding the future of District facilities.  The process was lead by the nationally recognized facilities planning firm of DeJong-Richter.

Following is a timeline with further information about the Educational Facilities Master Planning public process that was followed by the Boise School District.

October 2015

On October 26, 2015, the District held an Educational Visioning & Futures Conference involving educators, students, parents and community members who gathered to look at the current state of Boise Schools and engage in conversation regarding the process of the facility master plan, national trends in education, how to look forward for the education of our students and also discussing educational topics that directly impact our children.

There were 80 attendees at the conference from different organizations throughout the community. Attendees completed two activities during the meeting, the first being a group activity where participants worked together at tables to come up with the largest challenges for the district. During the second activity, participants worked at tables to complete a questionnaire. The input provided by the attendees is an important part in developing the final facility master plan.  Many topics were discussed at the meeting, including the learning process, global demographics, the future of education, technology trends, innovative ways of teaching, the history of school facilities and environmental trends.

Tracy RichterDeJong-Richter's CEO Tracy Richter (pictured) facilitated the conference that included an informative and interactive session designed to help answer two questions vital to the success of Boise's students:

  • What are the biggest educational challenges Boise School District will face in the next 10-20 years?
  • What do you believe should be the priorities of the updated facilities planning process?

Click here to review the presentation presented by Tracy Richter, CEO, DeJong-Richter. 

February 2016 

Community Dialogue Session February 16, 2016On February 16, 2016 a second Educational Futures Conference was held where educators, students, parents and community members gathered for an informative and interactive session covering the following topics:

Beginning the week of February 29, 2016 teams from DeJong-Richter toured every building in the Boise School District.  These walkthroughs took at least two weeks to cover all of our schools.  The teams consisted of two people from DeJong-Richter and at least one member from the District's Facilities and Operations Department.  The following brief video explains the purpose of these facilities walkthroughs.



August 2016

In August, 2016, t
wo Facility Master Planning Community Dialogue Sessions were held - August 30th (Cynthia Mann Elementary) and August 31st (Whitney Elementary) - where hundreds of parents, residents, community partners and educators gathered to discuss the future of schools in the District.

Whitney Community Dialogue Session. The purpose of each community meeting was to discuss the results of data collected by DeJong-Richter and to ask patrons to provide feedback as to how to prioritize the facility needs of Boise Schools in the development of the 10 year facilities master plan. Click here to review results of a survey from the Community Dialogue Sessions held in August and from the survey that was also posted online.  

Click here to review the PowerPoint Presentation presented at  the August Community Dialogue Sessions by District Superintendent Dr. Don Coberly and Tracy Richter of DeJong-Richter. Click here to review the data sheets handed out at the sessions.

The following video is of the session held at Whitney Elementary School. In this video, Dr. Coberly and Mr. Richter explain the Facility Master Planning process and share important data with parents, residents, community partners and educators as part of soliciting public comment to help prioritize identified facilities needs in the District. 




October 2016

On October 17, 2016 another Community Dialogue session was held at Capital High School where DeJong-Richter presented a summary of results from the first Community Dialogue sessions which took place on August 30th and 31st, 2016 and to review the Draft Facility Master Plan, which was the result of the community input received.  

October 17, 2016 Community Dialogue SessionDuring the October 17th public meeting, Tracy Richter from DeJong-Richter reviewed the draft Facility Master Plan and then asked participants to complete a questionnaire regarding the draft Plan.

A video of Mr. Richter's presentation, along with a brief opening presentation by Superintendent Dr. Coberly, are provided below.



After the October 17th public meeting, a survey regarding the draft Facility Master Plan was then posted online for public input. Click here to review results of the survey from the Community Dialogue session held on October 17, 2016 and also results from the survey that was posted online. 

November 2016

On November 1, 2016, Board of Trustees of the Boise School District held a special Board meeting to receive a presentation about the draft Facility Master Plan from DeJong-Richter's Alex Boyer.  At that meeting, the Board accepted and approved the Facility Master Plan as presented to serve as the foundation for the District's 10-year Facility Master Plan.  

Then, on November 14, 2016, Board members unanimously voted to present a $172.5 million Bond Election to voters on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 that would support the 10-year Educational Facilities Master Plan. It should be noted the bond would not raise the current property tax rate.  

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

During the Educational Facilities Master Planning process data collected and presented by DeJong-Richter also included: 

State of Schools Report
One-page snapshots of each school.

Enrollment Projection Report (see pages 10-13)
Projections were based on live birth data, historical enrollment by school, by grade,  Census data, and building permits

Capacity Report
Capacity was calculated using two separate methodologies. The first being an "as programmed" capacity -- as the school is currently used, and the second being a designed capacity -- how the school was built.

Educational Adequacy Report
Educational Adequacy is strictly about how the facility is able to support current educational needs, not the quality of programs or educational offerings.

Pre-Kindergarten to 12th Grade Space Standards
A comprehensive report of suggested facility space standards.

School Feeder Chart
The current organization of schools, by quadrant.

Other Related Information:

Bond Planning Information Presented by Eric Heringer of Piper Jaffray