Lynden School District’s bond will likely fail for a second time after preliminary election results on Tuesday night show only 47.78% of voters in favor of the bond.
4,757 votes have been counted as of 8:30 p.m.
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. “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. Bonds need a supermajority of 60% to pass.
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. Superintendent David 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.
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.