Seventy-eight votes. That\u2019s how many more votes the $150 million construction bond for Renton School District needed to pass. The bond was approved by 59.4 percent of district voters in the March 11 election.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just short of the required 60-percent supermajority. Election results were certified Wednesday.<\/p>\n
But district officials are not giving up. Renton School Board voted Wednesday to put the bond back in front of voters on a May 20 ballot. Voters will cast only mail-in votes, with not poll voting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things, we missed it by a slim margin,\u201d says School Board President Al Talley. Supporters just have to work a little harder to get the word out, he added.<\/p>\n
District spokesperson Randy Matheson says the citizens\u2019 committee in support of the bond made calls to 14,000 district voters, and nearly all voters said they supported the bond and would cast a yes vote. But only about 13,000 people \u2014 25 percent of registered voters \u2014 cast votes in the election.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we have to do is work on that apathy,\u201d Matheson says. \u201cThat is the piece that fails these bond issues more than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The citizens\u2019 committee plans to tweak its outreach approach, Matheson says. The committee has already begun meeting since the bond\u2019s failure.<\/p>\n
The district could have waited until next February to again place the bond in front of voters, but Matheson says inflation and the rising cost of construction supplies means the $150 million wouldn\u2019t go as far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a good time to go forward,\u201d Talley says.<\/p>\n
If approved, the bond would be collected over 20 years. It would fund needed construction throughout the district, including a new wing of 10 classrooms at Hazen High School; a new early childhood center; a new secondary learning center; a new roof, plus heating and ventilation work at Lindbergh High School; upgrades at Dimmitt and Nelsen Middle schools; safety and security measures at some elementary schools and a rehaul of Renton Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of this work is going to be at middle and high schools,\u201d Matheson says. \u201cThey are huge buildings that have been around a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bond, like the two levies passed by voters in the March 11 election, will not raise tax rates. Property taxes will remain about $3.44 for every $1,000 of assessed value. That\u2019s possible because of Renton\u2019s growing tax base.<\/p>\n
Matheson and Talley are confident that with just a little more hard work, the May 20 election will garner the required 60 percent of votes. Matheson suspects hundreds of people simply forgot to mail in ballots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re confident that there are more people out there who support us who will be motivated to follow through with the commitment and mail in that ballot,\u201d Matheson says.<\/p>\n
Emily Garland can be reached at emily.garland@reporternewspapers.com or (425) 255-3484, x. 5052.<\/p>\n
Seventy-eight votes. That\u2019s how many more votes the $150 million construction bond for Renton School District needed to pass. The bond was approved by 59.4 percent of district voters in the March 11 election.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just short of the required 60-percent supermajority. Election results were certified Wednesday.<\/p>\n
But district officials are not giving up. Renton School Board voted Wednesday to put the bond back in front of voters on a May 20 ballot. Voters will cast only mail-in votes, with not poll voting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things, we missed it by a slim margin,\u201d says School Board President Al Talley. Supporters just have to work a little harder to get the word out, he added.<\/p>\n
District spokesperson Randy Matheson says the citizens\u2019 committee in support of the bond made calls to 14,000 district voters, and nearly all voters said they supported the bond and would cast a yes vote. But only about 13,000 people \u2014 25 percent of registered voters \u2014 cast votes in the election.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we have to do is work on that apathy,\u201d Matheson says. \u201cThat is the piece that fails these bond issues more than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The citizens\u2019 committee plans to tweak its outreach approach, Matheson says. The committee has already begun meeting since the bond\u2019s failure.<\/p>\n
The district could have waited until next February to again place the bond in front of voters, but Matheson says inflation and the rising cost of construction supplies means the $150 million wouldn\u2019t go as far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a good time to go forward,\u201d Talley says.<\/p>\n
If approved, the bond would be collected over 20 years. It would fund needed construction throughout the district, including a new wing of 10 classrooms at Hazen High School; a new early childhood center; a new secondary learning center; a new roof, plus heating and ventilation work at Lindbergh High School; upgrades at Dimmitt and Nelsen Middle schools; safety and security measures at some elementary schools and a rehaul of Renton Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of this work is going to be at middle and high schools,\u201d Matheson says. \u201cThey are huge buildings that have been around a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bond, like the two levies passed by voters in the March 11 election, will not raise tax rates. Property taxes will remain about $3.44 for every $1,000 of assessed value. That\u2019s possible because of Renton\u2019s growing tax base.<\/p>\n
Matheson and Talley are confident that with just a little more hard work, the May 20 election will garner the required 60 percent of votes. Matheson suspects hundreds of people simply forgot to mail in ballots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re confident that there are more people out there who support us who will be motivated to follow through with the commitment and mail in that ballot,\u201d Matheson says.<\/p>\n
Emily Garland can be reached at emily.garland@reporternewspapers.com or (425) 255-3484, x. 5052.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seventy-eight votes. That\u2019s how many more votes the $150 million construction bond for Renton School District needed to pass. The bond was approved by 59.4 percent of district voters in the March 11 election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18362"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rentonnews.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}