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Lynden School District’s bond will likely fail for a second time after updated election results on Thursday night, Aug. 7, show only 46.06% of voters in favor of the bond.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday night, 8,928 votes had been counted. Bonds need a supermajority of 60% to pass.
The school district put a $157.5-million, 20-year bond to voters, asking them to commit to an estimated additional tax rate of $1.36 per $1,000 in assessed property value to rebuild Lynden High School, add classrooms to Isom and Bernice Vossbeck elementary schools, and upgrade safety, security and accessibility across district facilities.
Superintendent David VanderYacht said he’s disappointed the votes went “the wrong direction” in these early results.
“I think our community could benefit greatly from the project that the citizens’ groups put together, but at the same time I also recognize that our community has to support those plans,” VanderYacht said Tuesday night. “We need to continue working on finding the path that will be supported by the supermajority.”
He said the school district’s capacity issues won’t go away.
“If we’re going to be a growing community, we need to figure out how to grow our public services,” he said.
In February, when the district put the bond to voters for the first time, just under 51% of voters approved of the bond, falling short of passing by nearly 10 percentage points.
School districts statewide struggle to pass bonds. According to the state superintendent, school bonds have only passed 45% of the time in the last decade.
Lynden sought facility upgrades due to the increase in Lynden’s population over the last few decades. VanderYacht previously told CDN that Lynden High School was built in 1980, when the city’s population was 4,000. There are now almost 17,000 people in Lynden.
In the argument against the bond in the voter’s guide, Doris Smith, who previously ran for Lynden School Board, criticized the bond as “neither reasonable nor affordable.” Smith argued that the district needs a “tighter, lower-cost bond that reflects the financial realities we face every day.”
The argument for the bond in the voter’s guide explained that the district had explored multiple lower-cost projects, rather than one big project, but eliminated the idea as it would cost more in the end and not address “very real, existing needs in the district.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
