Lesson 10 of 10 · about 36 minutes
Records, Meetings and Real Idaho Bond and Levy Examples
You'll be able to
- Request the right school district records for a bond, levy, budget or construction project, and know the response deadlines
- Apply Idaho's Open Meeting Law to school board meetings and executive sessions
- Follow a bond from facility study through election, sale and construction, and know which documents each stage produces
- Read real Idaho bond and levy histories from Idaho Falls, Salmon, Coeur d'Alene, Lakeland, Nampa and others
- Use statewide figures on supplemental levies, bond results and state appropriations accurately
Start here: the short version
- Almost everything about a bond or levy is a public record: the facility study, enrollment projections, consultant contracts, the bond counsel's numbers, bids, change orders and invoices. An Idaho district must answer a resident's request within three working days, or ten with written notice.
- School boards follow the Open Meeting Law. Land purchases, lawsuits and labor talks can go into executive session, but every vote happens in public.
- Recent Idaho results split sharply by type. Across five elections from May 2024 to May 2026, 2 of 16 school bonds passed, while about 85 percent of supplemental levies passed.
- In 2024-2025, 77 of Idaho's 115 school districts had supplemental levies totaling about $180 million, after state facilities money cut them by about $54 million.
- A bond is a multi-year project with a paper trail at every stage. Following it from study to ribbon cutting is how residents catch problems early.
The earlier lessons in this module explained the rules: who governs, how budgets and levies work, what bonds need, what districts may say. This one is about using the rules. It covers the records to ask for, the meetings to watch, the path a bond travels from a consultant's report to a finished building, and a set of real Idaho case histories from the last several years, passed and failed, with the vote shares and dollar amounts on the record. It ends with a checklist and the statewide numbers.
The records that tell the story
Idaho's Public Records Act, Title 74, Chapter 1, covers school districts like any other public agency. Under 74-103, a request must be made to the agency's designated custodian and must clearly say it is a public records request. The custodian must grant or deny a resident's request within three working days. If more time is needed to find the records, the agency must say so in writing and provide them within ten working days. Nonresidents get 21 days, extendable to 35. A request with no answer in time is deemed denied, and a denial must be in writing, cite the statute that allows it and explain the right to appeal. The records course covers each step: who holds what, deadlines and extensions, fees, exemptions and appeals.
| Record | Why it matters | Who usually holds it |
|---|---|---|
| Facility study or condition assessment, and any ten-year facilities plan | The factual basis for a bond or plant facilities levy: building ages, deficiencies, cost estimates | Superintendent, facilities director |
| Enrollment projections and the demographer's or consultant's report | Most new-school bonds rest on growth forecasts. Compare past projections with actual enrollment. | Superintendent, business office |
| Consultant and architect contracts with scopes of work | Shows what public money paid for, including any campaign-style work barred by 74-604 (lesson 08) | Business office |
| Board resolution calling the election, ballot language and official statement | The legal terms of the measure and the 34-913 or 34-914 cost figures | Board clerk; county clerk |
| Bond counsel and municipal advisor engagement letters, and the advisor's debt service estimates | Where the interest rate and annual cost figures came from | Business office |
| District communications about the measure, with quantities and costs | Checks for advocacy and for missing disclosures | Communications office, business office |
| Official statement for the bond sale, final debt schedule | The actual rate and payments, which may differ from the ballot estimate | Business office |
| Bid solicitations, bid tabulations, construction manager selection records, contracts | Whether procurement followed 67-2805 and the district's policy | Business office, facilities |
| Change orders, pay applications, monthly project budget reports | Where cost overruns and scope changes show up first | Facilities, construction manager |
| Budget, audit, vendor list, master labor agreements | The operating picture covered in lesson 09 | Business office; website under 33-357 |
| Board minutes, agendas, packets and recordings | When each decision was made and what the board saw | Board clerk; district website |
How to: request the records for a bond or levy
- Find the district's records custodian and request form on its website, or ask the board clerk. Mark the request clearly as a public records request under Idaho Code Title 74, Chapter 1.
- Ask for specific documents with dates: "the facility condition assessment presented to the board in January 2026, and the contract and scope of work for the firm that prepared it." The Idaho FOIA / Public Records Letter Generator drafts an Idaho request letter you can adjust.
- Ask for electronic copies where they exist. Ask for a fee estimate before work begins if the request is large.
- Calendar the deadline: three working days, or ten if the district writes that it needs more time.
- If something is withheld, read the cited exemption and ask for the rest with redactions. Pending bids and real property appraisals may be withheld for a time; the contract and final price usually are not.
- Keep a log of what you asked for, when, and what came back. It is your record if you later appeal or testify.
Meetings: what the Open Meeting Law requires of school boards
School boards are governing bodies under Idaho's Open Meeting Law, Title 74, Chapter 2, and Idaho Code 33-510 says every board meeting must comply with it. The open meetings course goes deep on each rule; here is what matters most during budget, bond and levy season.
| Rule | What it requires | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Regular meeting notice | Five calendar days' meeting notice and a 48-hour agenda, posted at the district office and online if the district has a website or social media; a board meeting monthly can meet the notice rule with an annual schedule | 74-204(1) |
| Special meeting notice | 24 hours' meeting and agenda notice unless a stated emergency exists | 74-204(2) |
| Action items | Items needing a vote must be marked as action items; items added after the meeting starts cannot get final action unless an emergency is declared and justified in the minutes | 74-204(4) |
| Executive session | Only for listed purposes, on a two-thirds roll call vote naming the subsection; no final action; narrowly construed; changing the subject inside is a violation | 74-206 |
| Minutes | Members present, all motions and their disposition, vote results, and roll call votes on request; executive session minutes cite the subsection and identify the topic | 74-205 |
| Public comment | Residents may comment on school and education matters at regular meetings, and boards hear offered comment before acting on an agenda item | 33-510(5) |
The executive session purposes that come up most with bonds are acquiring an interest in real property not owned by a public agency (74-206(1)(c)), communicating with legal counsel about pending or imminently likely litigation (1)(f), and labor contract matters (1)(j). A board can talk privately about which parcel to buy for a new school. It cannot vote to buy it there, and it cannot drift into whether to run a bond at all. If you watch the motion to enter executive session, write down the subsection cited and compare it with what the board does when it comes back. The Idaho Open-Meetings Compliance Tracker is built for logging meetings and possible compliance problems over time.
For the details: Notice and Agendas, Executive Sessions, Minutes and Recordings, and Documenting a Violation. For speaking at the meeting, see School Boards in the testifying course.
How to: check an executive session at a school board meeting
- Before the meeting, read the agenda. An executive session item should name the specific subsection of 74-206 that allows it.
- At the meeting, write down the motion, the subsection cited and the roll call vote. Two-thirds of the board must vote yes (a simple majority only if fewer than two-thirds of seats are filled, under 74-206(4)).
- When the board returns, note any action it takes. A vote on the topic must happen in open session, and the agenda should list it as an action item.
- Later, request or download the minutes. Under 74-205(2), they must cite the subsection and identify the purpose and topic in enough detail to tell what was discussed, without defeating the reason for closing the door.
- If the board seems to have discussed something outside the cited subsection, write down what you saw and heard, then read Violations, Cures and Cases for what the law allows a resident to do next.
Following a bond from facility study to finished building
A school bond starts long before the vote and ends long after it. The project runs two to five years before the election and another two to four after it. Each stage produces documents, and each is a point where residents can ask questions while the answers can still change something.
| Stage | What happens | Documents to watch | Rule or deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Facility study | Consultant or staff assess buildings and capacity; SDE posts templates for building and site surveys and a ten-year plan | Condition assessment, capacity tables, cost estimates | Board presentation in open meeting |
| 2. Enrollment forecast | Demographer or staff project students by school and year | Forecast report and its assumptions (housing permits, birth rates) | Compare with SDE enrollment history |
| 3. Community committee and options | District weighs a bond, plant facilities levy, lease or doing nothing | Committee roster, minutes, option cost comparisons | Committee meetings may be subject to the Open Meeting Law if the board created it as a governing body; ask |
| 4. Board resolution and ballot language | Board votes to call the election and sets amount, term and purpose | Resolution, ballot question, official statement | Language to county clerk by 5 p.m. on the tenth Friday before the May or November election (34-106(8)); cost figures under 34-913 |
| 5. Campaign | District informs; private committees persuade | District communications; Sunshine reports | 74-604, 34-913(5), 67-6608 (lesson 08) |
| 6. Election and canvass | Two-thirds needed for a bond | County results by precinct | Contest within 40 days of the canvass (34-2001A) |
| 7. Bond sale | Bonds priced and sold; rate set | Official statement for investors, rating report, final debt schedule | Compare actual rate with the ballot's anticipated rate |
| 8. Design and procurement | Architect designs; contractor or construction manager chosen | Requests for qualifications, bid tabulations, contracts | Public works procurement rules in 67-2805 |
| 9. Construction | Building goes up; money flows from the capital projects fund | Change orders, pay applications, monthly budget reports | Board approval thresholds in district policy |
| 10. Closeout and audit | Final payments; leftover proceeds handled under the bond terms | Final project report; audit capital assets and debt notes | Audit to SDE by November 10 each year (33-701) |
How to: follow a bond meeting by meeting
- Subscribe to the board's agenda postings, or check the website every week. Look for facility, enrollment, bond or construction items.
- Download the board packet for each of those meetings. The packet usually has the consultant slides and cost tables the board saw.
- Keep a running table: date, document, the cost estimate stated, the enrollment figure stated. Estimates that drift without explanation are the questions to ask.
- After the election, track these numbers monthly: bond proceeds spent, total change orders, and the projected final cost against the amount on the ballot.
- Comment at regular meetings when something changes, and put written questions in the record so the answers are on file.
Real Idaho case histories
The results below come from Idaho Education News election-night reporting (unofficial results) and SDE records, as cited. Percentages are yes votes as a share of votes on the question. Where reports disagree, we say so.
Idaho Falls School District 91: a failed bond, a voided levy and a speech case
In November 2022 a $250 million bond drew about 58 percent and failed under the two-thirds rule. The district's materials for that campaign led to the civil advocacy complaints described in lesson 08, settled in December 2023. In March 2023 voters renewed a two-year, $13.6 million supplemental levy with 80.7 percent. In May 2023 they approved a 10-year, $33 million plant facilities levy for a new elementary school with nearly 70 percent; the State Tax Commission refused it because the district already had a plant facilities levy, and on November 17, 2023 a district judge set it aside, as Idaho Education News reported. In November 2024 a two-year, $16 million supplemental levy passed with 65 percent. The lesson for residents: operating levies passed comfortably every time, while building money hit both the supermajority and a legal wall.
Salmon School District: 12 failures, then 72 percent
By March 2019, Idaho Education News counted nine Salmon bond failures in recent years. That month a $25.6 million bond for an elementary and middle school drew 58 percent and failed, followed by complaints about the district's consultant contracts (lesson 08). On May 21, 2024, a $20 million bond for a new K-8 school to replace Pioneer Elementary passed with 72 percent, ending a streak of 12 consecutive bond failures, Idaho Education News reported. A smaller amount, a single building and years of argument preceded the yes vote.
Coeur d'Alene: a permanent levy rejected, a two-year levy approved
In March 2021 Coeur d'Alene passed a two-year, $40 million supplemental levy with 60 percent, according to Idaho Education News. In March 2023 it asked for a permanent supplemental levy of $25 million a year, which drew 48.97 percent and failed, and a five-year, $25 million plant facilities levy that drew 54.48 percent against a 55 percent requirement, failing by about half a point. In November 2024, a two-year, $50 million supplemental levy passed with 70 percent; Idaho Education News reported it was nearly 20 percent of the district's general fund budget. Same district, same community, very different answers depending on whether the levy had an end date.
Lakeland: back and forth on operating money
Lakeland's two-year, $19.04 million supplemental passed with 50.4 percent in March 2021, then failed with 47 percent in March 2023, according to the paper's March 2023 results. A $19 million request failed again with 48 percent in November 2024. In May 2025 a smaller two-year, $15 million supplemental passed with 67 percent. In May 2026 a $15 million plant facilities levy drew 43 percent and failed. Reducing the ask changed the result on operations; it did not carry over to buildings.
Nampa, Kuna and Middleton: growth districts and the supermajority
In March 2023 Nampa's $210.2 million bond drew 40 percent and Kuna's $111.4 million bond drew 58.5 percent; both failed. In November 2025 Nampa passed a two-year, $33.6 million supplemental levy with 52 percent. Middleton's $19.9 million bond for a new elementary school got 53 percent in May 2025, a majority and still a loss, and its supplemental levies failed with 45 percent in November 2025 and 48 percent in May 2026.
2025 and 2026: a hard stretch for bonds
On May 20, 2025, all three bonds failed: Shelley's $78.6 million (38 percent), Filer's $52 million (22 percent) and Middleton's $19.9 million (53 percent), while 22 of 24 supplemental levies passed. On November 4, 2025, all three bonds failed again: Gooding's $26.4 million (43 percent), Fremont County's $17 million (51 percent) and Camas County's $1.75 million (15 percent). On May 19, 2026, Kimberly's $57.8 million bond drew 14 percent and Rockland's $3.8 million drew 34 percent. The day after the May 2025 losses, Idaho Education News asked the three superintendents what happened. Middleton's said turnout was about 11 percent of registered voters and that support had not moved since a 2022 bond failed, even though the district gathered feedback and cut its request by nearly $40 million. Shelley's called the result "an eye-opener." Filer's said patrons had raised many objections before the vote: some called the bond too expensive, some wanted to see a rendering of the school first, and some opposed the athletic facility improvements. That last list is a useful reminder that a no vote is rarely one argument. A district that hears only "too expensive" may miss the voters who wanted a drawing, or a smaller project without the football field.
| District | Date | Measure | Amount | Yes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Falls | Nov. 2022 | Bond | $250 million | About 58% | Failed |
| Idaho Falls | May 2023 | Plant facilities, 10 years | $33 million | Nearly 70% | Passed, then voided by court |
| Salmon | Mar. 2019 | Bond | $25.6 million | 58% | Failed |
| Salmon | May 2024 | Bond | $20 million | 72% | Passed |
| Coeur d'Alene | Mar. 2023 | Permanent supplemental | $25 million a year | 48.97% | Failed |
| Coeur d'Alene | Mar. 2023 | Plant facilities, 5 years | $25 million | 54.48% (55% needed) | Failed |
| Coeur d'Alene | Nov. 2024 | Supplemental, 2 years | $50 million | 70% | Passed |
| Lakeland | May 2025 | Supplemental, 2 years | $15 million | 67% | Passed |
| Lakeland | May 2026 | Plant facilities | $15 million | 43% | Failed |
| Nampa | Mar. 2023 | Bond | $210.2 million | 40% | Failed |
| Nampa | Nov. 2025 | Supplemental, 2 years | $33.6 million | 52% | Passed |
| West Ada | May 2024 | Supplemental | $27.7 million | 58% | Passed |
| Middleton | May 2025 | Bond | $19.9 million | 53% | Failed |
| Shelley | May 2025 | Bond | $78.6 million | 38% | Failed |
| Fremont County | Nov. 2025 | Bond | $17 million | 51% | Failed |
| Kimberly | May 2026 | Bond | $57.8 million | 14% | Failed |
Worked example: how close was "close"?
Middleton's May 2025 bond drew 53 percent. Suppose 6,000 people voted on it (an invented round number, used only for the arithmetic). Yes votes: 6,000 x 0.53 = 3,180. Votes needed for two-thirds: 6,000 x 2/3 = 4,000. Shortfall: 4,000 - 3,180 = 820. Because a voter who switches from no to yes leaves the total at 6,000, 820 voters would have had to change their minds, or 820 / 6,000 = 13.7 percent of everyone who voted. A majority, and still nowhere near passing.
Coeur d'Alene's 2023 plant facilities levy missed its 55 percent threshold by 0.52 points. If 20,000 votes had been cast (again an invented number), 0.0052 x 20,000 = 104 voters switching would have passed it. Same word, "close," and a gap about 26 times smaller as a share of the electorate (13.7 / 0.52 = 26.3).
Myth: Idaho voters reject most school funding measures
They reject most bonds. They approve most operating levies. Counting Idaho Education News' itemized lists for the five elections from May 2024 through May 2026, 123 of 145 supplemental levies passed (84.8 percent), 9 of 16 plant facilities levies passed, and 2 of 16 bonds passed. Treating "school measures" as one category hides the pattern that matters most: the two-thirds bond threshold, and voters' different answers to "keep operating" and "build something new."
Checklist: a resident's guide to the next bond or levy
- Read the ballot question and official statement. Check the cost per $100,000 with the 34-913 or 34-914 formula.
- Find out which levy type it is and what approval it needs: majority, 55 to two-thirds, or two-thirds.
- Look up the district's existing levies in SDE's Tax Levies for School Purposes report and its debt in the latest audit.
- Request the facility study, enrollment forecast and consultant contracts.
- Read the last two years of board minutes on facilities and budget.
- Compute general fund balance in months from the SDE financial summary (lesson 09).
- Check district communications for advocacy and for missing cost figures (lesson 08).
- Pull Sunshine reports for every committee on both sides.
- Attend or watch the budget hearing and comment if you have a question the record does not answer.
- After the vote, watch the canvass date, the bond sale rate and the first change orders.
Reporting angle
- Get precinct-level results from the county elections office after the canvass. A bond that passes in new subdivisions and fails in older neighborhoods is a different story than one that loses everywhere.
- Compare the anticipated interest rate on the ballot with the rate at the bond sale, and the ballot's estimated cost per $100,000 with the first year's actual bond levy rate.
- For a failed bond, ask the district what it will do next and when: a smaller bond, a plant facilities levy, portables, boundary changes. Request the board's options memo.
- For a passed bond, request change orders every quarter and report the running total against the original contract.
- Check executive session motions against 74-206 and what the board does when it returns to open session.
Research angle
- Idaho Education News election results, May 2026, with links to earlier election nights.
- SDE Supplemental Levies (Historical): every district's supplemental levy since fiscal 1993.
- Idaho Code Title 74, Chapter 1 (records) and Chapter 2 (open meetings).
- Idaho Public Records Requests and Idaho Open Meetings courses.
- Levies and Bonds in the local government course, and Who Pays the Increment for how urban renewal interacts with school levies.
- County election results pages (search your county clerk's site for "election results") for official canvassed totals.
Pictures, Numbers and Infographics
| Figure | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| State general fund appropriation for public schools, FY2027 (Public Schools, IESDB, Central Services and IDLA) | $2,750,379,700, of $3,124,238,900 total public schools revenues | SDE FY2027 appropriation presentation |
| Districts with a supplemental levy, school year 2024-2025 | 77 of 115 (67%), totaling $180,027,099 | SDE Tax Levies for School Purposes 2024-2025 |
| State facilities money used to reduce school levies, tax year 2024 | $70,209,469 off bonds (54 districts); $54,241,060 off supplementals (55); $3,976,197 off plant facilities (12) | SDE Tax Levies for School Purposes 2024-2025 |
| Bond and plant facilities levies, 2024-2025 | 34 districts, $44,306,969 in bond levies; 40 districts, $56,158,899 in plant facilities levies | SDE Tax Levies for School Purposes 2024-2025 |
| School measures on the May 19, 2026 ballot | 36 measures; 25 passed; both bonds failed | Idaho Education News, unofficial results |
| School measures on the Nov. 4, 2025 ballot | 33 measures; 21 passed; all three bonds failed | Idaho Education News, unofficial results |
| Bonds passed, May 2024 through May 2026 (five elections) | 2 of 16 (12.5%) | Count of Idaho Education News itemized lists |
| Supplemental levies passed, same five elections | 123 of 145 (84.8%) | Count of Idaho Education News itemized lists |
| State share of district and charter general fund revenue, FY2025 | 83.8% ($2,648.5M of $3,158.7M) | SDE Financial Summaries 2024-2025, summed across 191 statements |
A note on counting. Idaho Education News' May 2024 summary text gave 45 measures and 35 passes, while its itemized list, updated after the count, shows more; we used the itemized lists for every election. And the May 2026 article's text said four supplemental levies failed while its list shows five; the chart follows the list.
Check yourself
1. An Idaho resident asks a school district for bond records. Under Idaho Code 74-103, how long does the district have to grant or deny the request before it must give written notice that it needs more time?
A custodian must grant or deny a resident's request within three working days, or give written notice that more time is needed and provide the records within ten working days of the request.
2. A school board wants to meet privately to discuss buying land for a new school. Which part of 74-206 allows that executive session?
74-206(1)(c) allows an executive session to acquire an interest in real property not owned by a public agency. The vote to buy must still happen in open session, because no final action may be taken in executive session.
3. Counting Idaho Education News' itemized lists for the five school elections from May 2024 through May 2026, how many school bonds passed?
Ririe and Salmon passed bonds in May 2024. Every other bond in those five elections failed: 2 passed out of 16.
4. According to SDE's 2024-2025 levy report, how many Idaho school districts had supplemental levies?
The report says 77 districts had supplemental levies totaling $180,027,099. The 34 districts and $44.3 million figure is for bond levies.
5. What happened to the Salmon School District's bond in May 2024?
Idaho Education News reported the $20 million bond for a new K-8 school passed with 72 percent, above the two-thirds requirement, after 12 straight failures.
6. Within how many days of the canvass must a bond or levy election contest be filed under Idaho Code 34-2001A?
34-2001A requires a verified complaint within 40 days after the votes are canvassed and the results declared.
Terms in this lesson
- Custodian
- The person a public agency designates to receive and answer public records requests.
- Executive session
- A closed part of a public meeting, allowed only for purposes listed in 74-206, approved by a two-thirds roll call vote, with no final action taken.
- Facility study
- An assessment of a district's buildings, capacity and condition, usually by an architect or consultant, that becomes the basis for a bond or plant facilities levy.
- Canvass
- The official count and certification of election results by the county; it starts the 40-day clock for a bond or levy contest.
- Change order
- A written change to a construction contract's scope, price or schedule after it is signed.
- Supermajority
- A vote threshold above a simple majority, such as two-thirds for a school bond or 55 to two-thirds for a plant facilities levy.
Sources
- Idaho Code 74-103, request and response deadlines, Public Records Act checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 74-204, notice of meetings and agendas checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: Judge invalidates Idaho Falls' $33 million levy for a new school (Nov. 17, 2023) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 74-206, executive sessions checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 34-106, election dates and ballot language deadline checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 34-2001A, bond and levy election contests checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 67-2805, procurement of public works construction checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: Bonds fail, plant facilities struggle; most supplemental levies pass (May 19, 2026 election) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: All bonds rejected, most levies pass (Nov. 4, 2025 election) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: A bad night for school bonds (May 20, 2025) and 22 levies pass and just two fail (May 20, 2025) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: 22 levies pass and just two fail with nearly $75 million on the ballot (May 20, 2025) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: School leaders reflect on disheartening and eye-opening bond losses (May 21, 2025) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: School elections: McCall bond issue passes, Bonneville levies fail (March 9, 2021 election) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: Most levies were approved by local voters, with $259 million at stake (Nov. 5, 2024 election) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: Bond and levy results: Salmon bond passes, breaking streak of 12 failures (May 21, 2024 election) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Education News: March 14, 2023 school election results checked 2026-10
- SDE, Tax Levies for School Purposes 2024-2025 and Supplemental Levies (Historical) checked 2026-10
- SDE, FY 2027 Public Schools Appropriations presentation checked 2026-10