The bond package includes expanding the capacity of existing school buildings rather than building new schools. The concept resulted from the work of the Community Facilities Task Force and the discussion centered on high school construction. You can read about it in their recommendation to the School Board on page 2 and page 9 of the recommendation report:https://salkeiz.k12.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Citizens_Facilities_Task_Force_Report_3-14-17_Final.pdf
In short, the Task Force found that it was more cost effective to expand current high school facilities than to build new. The estimated cost to build a new high school is around $250 million. In addition to being a more expensive option, building a new high school would not satisfy the district’s increased capacity needs, and would not address the infrastructure needs of current high schools. The Task Force also received negative feedback about how the construction of a new high school would force redistricting.