KTEC bell to ring early
COEUR d'ALENE - The chance to take high school classes on the Kootenai Technical Education Campus won't pass by students now in 10th-grade in the Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts.
It would have, if the Idaho Senate hadn't approved legislation Wednesday that will allow construction to start on the professional-technical high school a year earlier than planned.
The measure, approved by a vote of 34-1, will allow the school to open in 2012, when this year's sophomores will be seniors.
"Kootenai County voters supported construction of a professional-technical school and, with no additional expenditure of taxpayer funds, we had an opportunity to start the school a full school year ahead of schedule by simply changing a couple of words in statute," said Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, who carried the bill to the Senate floor.
The bill is now on its way to the governor to be signed into law.
Financing to build the $9.5 million professional-technical high school was approved last summer by voters in the Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts.
Existing law requires that all funds must be collected from taxpayers before building can begin. The new legislation allows construction to begin as the taxes are collected, provided contractors are warned that payments could lag if tax revenues decrease.
"The process is exactly what the Coeur d'Alene School District now uses and I expect their expertise in managing construction schedules will be invaluable to this process," Goedde said. "Further, the Associated General Contractors indicate we are in the best school construction market in the past decade and taxes paid may well stretch farther if construction can start earlier."
Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane said the school districts are excited about getting an early start.
"Now we are on a fast track to complete the final design elements of the facility," Keane said. "Tentatively, the plan is to bid the project out this summer."
The public high school, a joint effort of the three school districts, will offer classes in skilled trades such as health occupations, welding, construction and automotive to juniors and seniors.
It will be built in Rathdrum, near the intersection of Lancaster and Meyer roads.