It’s disappointment again for Battle Ground Public Schools, where voters appeared to be turning down a $224.9 million school bond that would replace facilities the district has said are desperately in need of repair.
The Battle Ground bond was failing Tuesday with 56.91 percent of the vote. Early returns showed 7,988 voters supported the bond, while 6,048 voted no.
Bonds need 60 percent approval to pass. Additional results will be released in the coming days, with the results certified on Feb. 23.
“We’re disappointed,” Superintendent Mark Ross said. “We’re holding out a slight chance it could swing our way.”
Early results show the district made only slight gains from its last bond race. That $80 million bond in 2016 failed with 55.43 percent in support.
“It’s a large district,” Ross said. Battle Ground Public Schools stretches from the north end of Orchards up through Yacolt and Amboy.
Added Ross: “Maybe it’s just trying to convince people in all parts of the district this it’s needed.”
Were the bond to have passed, it would have paid for the following projects:
• Replace Glenwood Heights Primary School, Laurin Middle School, and Pleasant Valley Primary and Middle School.
• Build a new primary and middle school campus at the southern end of the district.
• Develop an Alternative Learning Experience school — the district’s CAM Academy — on district-owned land.
• Replace some buildings at Prairie High School.
• Renovate one building and the gym at Amboy Middle School.
• Replace flooring and improve student recreation at some campuses.
• Improve technology access.
• Improve security and safety at all campuses.
The district hoped bond construction would ease overcrowding in the increasingly populated southern end of the district, where new home construction could mean an influx of new families and children.
The Pleasant Valley and Glenwood-Laurin campuses, each of which have a primary and middle school on their properties, are extended past capacity.
The Pleasant Valley schools were built to accommodate 993 students, but as of May 2017 there were 1,135 between the two schools, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Glenwood Heights Primary and Laurin Middle School, meanwhile, were built for 1,084 students. But their population last May was 1,387 students, according to OSPI.
Overcrowding means the district has built new modular classrooms, cancelled boundary exemptions and converted larger spaces into classrooms. Officials have hinted at the possibility of redrawing school boundaries should growth continue.
Administrators will meet with the school board and facilities team in the coming weeks to determine next steps, Ross said.
“There will be some really difficult decisions,” Ross said.
Katie Gillespie: 360-735-4517; katie.gillespie@columbian.com; twitter.com/newsladykatie
