East Valley School District’s failed $220 million bond is returning to ballots in April.
The district put a bond before voters earlier this month that garnered 54.6% support in the special election, shy of the 60% supermajority voter support to pass a school bond.
The bond would have paid for the demolition and replacement of the 3,500-student district’s middle and high school. Both buildings are over five decades old, and have aged to the point where it would be more costly to pay for smaller, “Band-Aid” repairs than fully replace the buildings.
February’s attempt was the first the district has made to pass a bond, necessary for major construction, in over 13 years. The last time East Valley voters approved a school bond was in 1996.
“We have to take care of what hasn’t been taken care of in a very long time,” East Valley Superintendent Brian Talbott said at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “There’s a cost of doing business, and we have reached the spot of, there’s a cost of not doing business, and that’s where we are.”
The school board unanimously approved sending the bond at Tuesday’s meeting, two weeks after the same crew watched election results roll in. The board considered reducing their overall ask, but decided against it because the needs of their buildings are too great.
“Both the buildings are older than me,” said board member Mike Bly.
Board member Carolyn Petersen said it’s not just a matter of the schools’ practical age-related concerns, but opportunities for students. Her kids play in East Valley High School’s orchestra, and were recently critiqued at a regional competition for not using the full length of their bows when they played. Petersen asked her daughter why they didn’t stretch out.
“She said, ‘It’s just a muscle memory, because we don’t fit in our music room,’ ” Petersen said.
Passage of the bond would also spur sixth-graders to the middle school level.
“It’s hard because we know this is a big ask and it is a burden on our community,” Talbott said. “At the same time, the schools are owned by our community, and we have work to do.”