The North Summit School Board unanimously voted in favor of a $125 million bond to fund the construction of a new high school despite widespread community opposition and two failed ballot measures. “It was based on the safety of our kids,” explained Board President Vern Williams. “There ha ve been numerous evaluations done. … I understand deeply what we’ve been talking about here, and it’s a decision that’s been a hard one.” North Summit High School hasn’t had any major modifications since its construction in 1977, and district officials told the public last year that reinvesting in the current structure would be more costly than building a new school. However, voters in 2024 and 2025 shot down the district’s attempts to pass a multi-million dollar general obligation bond to fund the project. In response, the school board proposed a $125 million lease revenue bond, which has a higher interest rate but does not require voter approval. More than 20 people spoke against the lease revenue bond at a public hearing before the school board’s vote on Wednesday. They expressed frustration over the district’s continued pursuit of the funds, as well as general economic concerns about how the move would affect housing costs and potentially price more families out of the area. Micheax Brock, one of the first speakers to take to the podium, in a tearful exchange said she understood the school board is in a tough position, but the economic strain would be too much for locals, especially those who have lived in Coalville and Henefer for generations. “We live in the most expensive county in Utah,” she said. “I notice people wanting to move back here, but they can’t afford land or a home here. I notice people from other states moving here that are older with no school-aged children. I notice families that move here who do have kids and a lot of them homeschool. I’ve noticed large families moving away because of how expensive it is.” Brock urged the school board to reinvest funds in the current North Summit High School building instead, calling it a “blessing” and asking the district to consider needs, not wants. Multiple other commenters throughout the night echoed the same sentiment, voicing worries about the district’s perceived emphasis on growth and the facility’s capacity. “During the school year for 2024, high school enrollment dropped to 328 students,” said Kurt Goodman, a former North Summit School District employee. “For decades, enrollment has remained essentially flat. … The existing school’s 550-student capacity, which is only at 59% of full capacity, will not be utilized for many years.” Most speakers agreed with Goodman’s assessment, pointing out declining enrollments in both the North Summit School District and Park City School District, which recently opened enrollment to students outside its boundaries to bolster its numbers. They also said general population projections for Summit County suggest the area will start to lose residents, with many offering personal stories of friends being priced out of the Wasatch Back. “When I see the cost of new construction, I expect many of the buyers will be retirees, second homeowners or real estate investors,” wrote Dick Stoner, who was unable to attend the public hearing but penned a letter to the school board in advance. “There are few, if any, local jobs that would pay enough to afford new construction. It also seems that a huge influx of new students will be limited and slow in coming. Any affluent homeowner with children would also look to vouchers to send students to Park City public or private schools, thereby creating the same issue Park City is dealing with now.” Residents said they opposed the scope of the new high school, too. A handful of constituents said they would be more in favor of the proposal if it didn’t include the construction of a new football field and community swimming pool. Instead, they suggested downscaling the high school and continuing to use the existing recreational facilities, with a potential bus service to shuffle kids back and forth from practice after school. However, not everyone in the crowd was against the bond. Lanae Ritzman, who works as a librarian and English teacher at North Summit High School, took to the podium to describe the conditions her students face every day, including temperatures between 86 and 90 degrees during the hotter months. She said the lack of heating and air conditioning in the building is one of her biggest challenges because it affects students’ ability to concentrate. “The cement building sucks in the heat and doesn’t let it go,” Ritzman said. “I stood in front of my class embarrassed because I was dripping down the front and dripping down the back. That wasn’t one or two days. That was from the start of school all the way through September and well into October before the building cooled off enough that we could sit in our classrooms and feel comfortable. I don’t know how that is acceptable for your children or for us as teachers.” Ritzman said she ended up paying for fans out of her own pocket to hand out to students, saying it was obvious they were “miserable.” Four others also expressed their support of the bond, saying they wanted to give back to future generations of the North Summit community. Kelly Ovard, one of the four pro-bond speakers, added that he viewed the building as dilapidated when he attended the school in the 1980s, despite it only being around 10 years old at the time. “This was going to happen,” Ovard said about the lease revenue bond. “It wasn’t a matter of ‘if,’ dependent on what the voters wanted. It’s what’s needed, and it is needed. Could we wait five years? Well, we waited one year, and now it’s cost us $14 million more. If we wait five years, it could be another $50 or $60 million more. Buy it all at once and get it done.” The school board unanimously passed the resolution adopting the $125 million lease revenue bond after the public hearing. The debt will be paid off over 31 years, and the district estimated it will pay $7.9 million annually as part of its repayment efforts. The first general obligation bond in 2024 was for $114 million compared to the $121 million proposal shot down by voters in 2025. School officials previously said the increase was due to inflation and that the lease revenue bond would be a larger amount for the same reason. The post North Summit School District passes $125 million bond to fund high school construction appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less