SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — East Valley School District’s $220 million bond measure fell short of the required 60% supermajority, marking the eighth consecutive bond failure since 1996.
The bond would have primarily funded new middle and high school buildings, with remaining funds for district-wide safety and facility improvements.
“East Valley High School is exactly the same as when I went there,” said Neale Rasmussen, the district’s assistant superintendent, who graduated nearly 30 years ago. “Even though our maintenance has been good, it’s just like your home roof. It’s time to do major modernizations.”
Despite the failure, the measure received significantly higher support than the 37% approval in 2013. “The majority of voters were supportive of the bond, just not enough to get us over that 60% hurdle,” Rasmussen said.
Superintendent Brian Talbott warned that delaying improvements will increase costs. “In the meantime, we have to take care of the buildings that we have that, again, have reached their end of life,” he said.
The smaller district has struggled with families choosing larger, wealthier districts in recent years. District administrators are now evaluating whether to pursue another bond measure while weighing community feedback and ongoing facility needs.
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