Two of Clark County’s largest districts gained ground in their respective bond measures to build and renovate schools, according to results released Wednesday afternoon. But only one, it appears, will pass.
Evergreen Public Schools, whose $695 million bond effort is the largest in Washington this election season, was passing with 61 percent support.
Battle Ground Public Schools’ $224.9 million bond was still failing, but barely: 58.34 percent of voters supported the bond.
School construction bonds require a 60 percent supermajority to pass. Coincidentally, a state Senate bill that would have dropped the threshold for bonds to pass to 55 percent appears to have died in committee, according to the Legislature’s website. Wednesday was the last day to pass bills in their house of origin.
About 1,000 ballots are left countywide, according to the Clark County Auditor’s Office.
The latest results, albeit tight, prompted Evergreen Public Schools to declare victory. Of 22,646 voters, 13,814 supported the bond.
“The voters have placed great confidence in the district by approving the largest bond in the community’s history,” school board President Todd Yuzuriha said in a district statement. “When combined with anticipated state matching funds and locally collected impact fees, more than $800 million in school projects will be completed over the next six years. Thank you to the community for your incredible support.”
Superintendent John Steach, who was subdued after initial results showed the bond passing by only 0.12 percentage points Tuesday, said he was relieved by the improved numbers. The bond will replace schools, construct a new elementary school and expand Heritage High School. It will also pay for technology and infrastructure improvements throughout the school district.
Steach said the district will go out for bids for financial and project managers as soon as possible — likely in the coming days. Projects are slated for completion by 2024 with some construction beginning in the spring.
“This has validated the community’s commitment to eliminating some of the greatest inequities,” Steach said. “It’s our desire to address those as quickly as possible.”
Problems in Battle Ground
This is the second time in two school years that voters have turned down a bond in the Battle Ground district. The district asked voters to approve an $80 million bond in November 2016. That measure failed with 55.43 percent support.
This time, 9,141 of the 15,668 voters supported the costlier bond measure.
The district cited increased construction costs and a need for more projects among its reasons for asking for more money this time around. Most of the money would have been concentrated at the southern end of the district, where the district hoped to construct a new primary and middle school campus, and replace schools at the Pleasant Valley and Glenwood-Laurin campuses.
Superintendent Mark Ross, in an emailed statement, reiterated that aging facilities and overcrowding continue to plague the north county school district.
“We will need to meet with our school board in the coming weeks to make some difficult decisions how to address the issues that still exist with the bond not passing,” Ross said.
The La Center School District’s $48 million bond measure was still in good position after Wednesday’s updated results. The bond sits at 65.61 percent in favor, down slightly from 65.78 percent Tuesday night. An additional 487 ballots were counted Wednesday, 316 of which were in favor. So far, 2,591 total votes have been tallied in the race, 1,700 in favor and 891 against.
Camas’ replacement emergency services levy was also slightly down percentage-wise, sitting at 72.53 percent in favor after Wednesday’s results. It was at 72.57 percent Tuesday night. The levy, which is the same as the current one, has brought in 3,429 total votes, 2,487 in favor and 942 against.
More results will be released Thursday afternoon. The results will be validated Feb. 23.
