Gov. Larry Rhoden is signing a bill into law that loans the Douglas School District in Box Elder $15 million dollars at zero percent interest.
The money will get used to start construction of a new school to meet the district’s needs as the B-21 Raider beds down at Ellsworth Airforce Base.
Getting state dollars to the Douglas School District has been a topic of conversation by lawmakers for multiple years.
The bill signed into law originally started out as a $15 million grant but was amended to be an interest-free loan, instead.
At the signing ceremony in Box Elder, Gov. Rhoden said lawmakers chose a loan, as opposed to a grant, to avoid setting a precedent of the state financing brick and mortar projects for school districts.
“It’s not nearly as dangerous a precedent as just doing an appropriation," Rhoden said. "And, pretty distinct circumstances with the Douglas School District as well.”
That’s because time is of the essence. The Air Force has said the B-21 will arrive sometime in the mid-2020s. Officials at the school district say they’re already at capacity. In the next 15 years, they anticipate 1,500 more students will arrive. Seventy-five percent of those students will be below the age of 11.
Kevin Case, Douglas School District superintendent, said a lack of funding is holding up expansion in the district—a lot of the district has federal land, which they’re unable to generate revenue off of. Case said the district is also waiting on dollars from the federal government to expand.
“We’re also waiting on the $42 million at the federal level,” Case said. “That money, depending on when it might become available—it has to through the budget and be approved—so right now we’re on hold for that.”
The district has already purchased land just south of Interstate-90.
Case said the district could start building in March of 2026, which could take approximately two years to complete. He says it would likely be the 28-29 school year before they’re in a new building.
