POCATELLO — The future of Grace Lutheran's private high school will be put to a vote Saturday as the Rev. Jonathan Dinger presents the $2.5 million proposal to his congregation.

    “The steering committee is really looking for permission from the congregation to move forward,” Dinger said. “It is not a done deal. The congregation has to actually decide.”

    The Grace Lutheran pastor said the hundreds-strong congregation could place its total faith in the project, and the steering committee could vote to send the proposal back for more study or reject it altogether.

    However, with the idea incubating for more than two decades, Dinger and other community backers believe now is the right time to press forward.

    “The tipping point was when members of our congregation and community came to us and said, ‘We would love to see it happen,’” Dinger said. “There are a huge number of people who trust us.”

    The estimated $2.5 million would (in part) pay for a new 21,000-square-foot facility built at Grace Lutheran on its existing Baldy Avenue location. The first phase of that facility would have five classrooms and a gym comparable to those at Division 2A schools.

    Inside those classrooms, an inaugural class of about 20 ninth-grade students would study rigorous college-ready courses — some potentially taught by Idaho State University professors. Year after year, the church would roll out a new grade until a full K-12 curriculum was offered there. The school currently offers private education to locals in kindergarten through eighth-grade.

    The independent curriculum would be driven by theology, critical thinking, an annual service project and college preparation.

    “We want these courses to be taught at a level that is different from the average school,” Dinger said. “This school will be fueled by a desire to prep kids more than adequately so that they can walk right into college and be very competitive in any classroom.”

    The 11th- and 12th grades would offer a variation on dual enrollment at ISU, translating into between 24 and 32 college credits.

    “ISU has been very helpful and engaged with us,” Dinger said.

    Preliminary estimates put tuition costs at about 25 percent more than the current middle school fee or about $6,500 per year.

    “It’s just more expensive,” Dinger said of a high school curriculum.

    If the congregation gives its support, construction is expected to begin the first week of June.

    Enrollment would open in January 2016.

    “We would offer enrollment to our (current middle school) students first, then open it to the public,” Dinger said.

    The first classes would start in August 2016.

    “We are initially looking to capture market share,” Dinger said.

    That means attracting

2 percent of the ninth-graders in the area. Grace Lutheran’s target market area extends beyond the boundaries of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 into American Falls, Aberdeen, Inkom and South Blackfoot. According to the Council for American Private Education, private schools account for 24 percent of America’s schools and enroll 10 percent of all Pre-K through 12th-grade students nationally.

    The support of the university, a $1 million donation and community momentum have combined to make Dinger and the Grace Lutheran steering committee believe 2015 is the right year to finally get the project off the ground.

    The idea for a high school has been floating around since the time the church moved to its current location on Baldy Avenue. At that time, tight finances and a limited number of interested students put the proposal on the back burner. In 2001, the idea was up and running again.

    That’s the point at which Dinger was hired as pastor at the church, partially because of his high school experience, Dinger said. The pastor was formerly a teacher and director of development at Seattle Lutheran High School.

    “The congregation contemplated it very hard,” Dinger said of the 2001 proposal.  

    The economy was booming, but soon fell into depression. The declining economy and the rise of Pocatello’s charter schools put the project back on the shelf. The charter schools took 75 of the elementary and middle school’s existing students.

    What brought the private high school back into the spotlight this time was the coincidental (or providential) combination of many factors aligning. Dinger says the school has recouped the number of students lost to the charter schools and is back at full capacity. It’s current K-8 enrollment is 400 students.

    The economy has started to recover, making financing the project realistic, according to Dinger. He also said a major donor dedicated $1 million to the startup of the high school. And finally, he added, community members have voiced their support en masse for the project.

    However, unlike a public or charter school, once Grace Lutheran commits to the project, they are financially liable for its success. If it doesn’t attract the students, attention and support it needs, the church itself will be left with the tab.

    “We think that the combination of events makes it a strong possibility now,” Dinger said. “But it is not something we commit to lightly.”

    The project vote will occur after Dinger’s Saturday morning State of the Church address. Grace Lutheran has about 1,200 members on its rolls. However, about 200 are expected to attend the meeting. The last time the church congregation was asked to vote on something this financially weighty, the church moving to a new location, the go-ahead proposal got 95 percent of the vote.

    “After the meeting we can be very specific about what the next steps will be,” Dinger said.