We’re writing to ask you to veto SB86. Parents and public education advocates had been in contact with many legislators about this bill. The original version ($30 million cap for lease revenue bonds) and sub 1 ($90 million cap over a 12 month period) were both prohibitive to building a high school, which now costs $150-200 million, and which must be paid upfront. Sub 2 removed any cap. Then sub 3 came along ($200 million cap over 3 years), and it was voted on and passed before there was much time for parents to contact lawmakers about it. We believe several lawmakers may have been uncertain what was best for their school districts.
The $200 million upfront might allow a school district to build a high school, but that leaves no funding for emergencies or other needs, especially for a large school district, such as Alpine School District (86,000 students vs. about 4,500 students in the median Utah school district). While GO bonds are sometimes an option, they can only be approved during elections, and the political timing can be inopportune - especially when the ballot measure coincides with a controversial district split, which was the case for Alpine School District in 2022 and potentially in 2024.
The $90 million over three years is $270 million, so we urge you to increase the cap to at least $270 million, or even remove the cap.
The two high schools in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain will have 60 classrooms in portables between them by the start of next school year. We are in desperate need of a new high school. Students in other parts of the school district also have needs that shouldn't be ignored. Please help un-tie our school districts' hands to build school infrastructure to keep up with growth. In our conservative state, school boards are already extremely sensitive to balancing tax increases with student needs.
