More than a dozen school districts throughout Oregon asked voters this week for their financial support to refurbish aging school buildings and shore up declining operations budgets.
For the most part, Oregonians delivered. But in some districts, finding the support and votes to pass a bond or levy continues to be out of reach.
The most recent count of ballots from the May 20 special election shows voters backing 10 out of the 13 school bond and levy measures on the ballot throughout the state.
Some efforts, like Portland Public Schools鈥� nearly , passed with a comfortable margin on election night. Mount Hood Community College鈥檚 $136 million general obligation bond is still too close to call. The college鈥檚 bond is passing by the slimmest of margins, with just over 100 more votes approving the measure than votes rejecting it.
On the other hand, school districts that have been hard pressed to pass a bond for years or even decades 鈥� such as the Central Linn School District 鈥� received a resounding 鈥渘o, thank you鈥� from voters in their area.
There are several factors to consider when it comes to the success of a school bond or levy measure, like how large a district鈥檚 tax base is, the age and income of the electorate, voter turnout and the general health of the state and national economy.
鈥淒uring economic uncertainty, it becomes harder to pass bonds and levies,鈥� said Emielle Nischik, executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association.
Nischik noted that the , released by Oregon economists last week, most likely had an impact on voters鈥� attitudes coming into this election.
鈥淭aking on an additional tax is a challenging thing for folks to do right now,鈥� she said.
There鈥檚 also an apparent urban-rural divide for school measures that ask voters to pay more in taxes.
Many districts in Eastern Oregon have a smaller population available to bear the burden of another tax. The natural resource-based economies in the eastern part of the state are also depressed, said Grant School District Superintendent Mark Witty.
鈥淵ou just can鈥檛 pass a bond when your economics are diminishing year after year,鈥� said Witty about his district, which covers rural towns like John Day. He said some of the district鈥檚 buildings are nearing the 100-year-old mark and are in dire need of repairs and safety upgrades.
The state currently offers matching grants to bolster school districts鈥� and community colleges鈥� construction budgets. But in order to access the state money, districts must first get voters to approve a bond locally.
A bill making its way through the state legislature now,, looks to help districts that struggle to pass bonds by creating a new needs-based grant program within the Oregon Department of Education. The bill is currently sitting in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, with just over a month left in the 2025 session.
When districts can鈥檛 get enough local support, they鈥檒l often start carving away at their cash-strapped budgets to find money to repair buildings. This could be the case for Mount Hood Community College, if its measure does not pull through. Results from this week鈥檚 election won鈥檛 be certified until June 16.
MHCC President Lisa Skari said the college鈥檚 need to renovate its more than 50-year-old infrastructure doesn鈥檛 go away if the bond doesn鈥檛 pass.
鈥淲e鈥檒l need to divert more of our general fund, which is operating dollars, to capital so we can do some of those critical repairs,鈥� said Skari. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not gonna fill our whole need. It鈥檒l be a much slower process.鈥�
Education leaders throughout the state say there are no easy solutions for school districts and community colleges that seemingly have no way to get a bond or levy approved by voters. Oregon could begin to foot more of the school鈥檚 construction costs bills, as other states in the U.S. do, Nischik said.
But whether that鈥檚 financially feasible for the state is another question.
For now, she said, a school district鈥檚 best bet is to pass a bond by changing the narrative around the value of a public education and centering student鈥檚 experiences.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an equity issue. It鈥檚 a very noticeable difference for students 鈥� that sort of have and have nots,鈥� Nischik said. 鈥淚t can be a community right down the street, where one has a big, beautiful school and the other one has buckets holding water dripping through the ceiling.鈥�