Voters in the Grandview, Missouri, school district passed a $50 million bond in early April, the largest bond in the district's history. The loan package is a major boost to a 3,700-student district south of Kansas City looking to upgrade older buildings.
There are several big-ticket items the funds will cover, including a new baseball and softball field at the high school. But most of the money goes to smaller projects, such as modernizing heating and cooling systems. Restroom repairs and upgrades.
The bond did not include any tax increases. That could be a plus for voters who approved a 60-cent property tax levy in 2021 that would primarily be used to fund teacher pay increases, Superintendent Kenny Rodrequez said. But he said voters were thinking critically about a proposal that would probably still add to the district's long-term debt and ultimately decided the cost was worth the benefit to Grandview students.
“It’s really about trust. Do they trust the school board and you, the superintendent, to do this?” said Rodrequez, who has led the district since 2016.
Regardless of their rationale, voters left little doubt about their strong support for the measure. About 71% voted in favor.
The Grandview story reflects the experience of school districts across the country that rely on bonds and levies backed by local taxpayers to fund construction projects and maintenance.
As pandemic relief is cut off, many regions are facing a loss of revenue. Some states have cut off support., and there are few alternatives to finance construction. So more people may turn to bond measures to fund projects they've wanted to tackle for a long time.
Most states require school districts to get voter approval before issuing bonds to pay for expensive facility projects like HVAC repairs and roof replacements, as well as technology tools, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance improvements and increased security. do.
That means increasingly requiring communities to approve loans that could result in higher property taxes, which could be a difficult task, school district leaders say.
Because district leaders are generally prohibited by law from campaigning for bond measures, this can be especially tricky when trying to share information about what they think the proposal needs without advocating for support. It is difficult but doable, according to district leaders who have successfully managed the process.
They suggest being as transparent as possible about the potential financial impact on residents if the bill passes, and being accessible and responsive to questions and concerns. It also highlights the importance of relying on strong relationships with community groups and advocates.
In 2023, nearly one in four school district bond elections failed., according to data from the SchoolBondFinder tool developed by Amos Group, which sells school financial data to companies seeking to contract with school districts. Nonetheless, voters across the country approved about $80 billion in school bond issues. That's a historically high amount, but less than the $97 billion approved for 2022, the highest annual total since SchoolBondFinder began tracking the data. In 2014.
Most states need a majority of voters to pass bond measures, but 10 states need more support.That includes Idaho, where two-thirds of voters must vote yes and many borrowing packages have failed despite winning majority support.
Promoting information without advocacy is ‘a bit of a tightrope walk’
District leaders are generally able to share facts and information about bond measures and their reasons, but striking the right balance between providing information and directly advocating for a “yes” vote can be difficult.
In 2022, both the Idaho Falls school district's superintendent and spokesperson were fined. That was after the district sent a mailing to residents encouraging them to register to vote in the upcoming election and explaining the costs of the proposed bond. The backlash has been led by conservative lobbying groups that have filed several lawsuits against localities across the state in an attempt to stop the bond proposal. County prosecutors agreed that it was unlawful for the district to call the schools “overcrowded” and “aging” and say students “need modern, safe and secure schools,” according to reports from the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica.
Keeping in mind the legal parameters and understanding that what they may regard as fact may be used as a weapon for opponents, superintendents and other district leaders must be careful with their language on bond and levy proposals. Matt Montgomery, superintendent of Lake Forest, Illinois, where voters narrowly approved a $106 million bond measure a year ago, said voters need to be provided with as much direct, incontrovertible evidence as possible.
“You should never hear my voice telling you to vote yes. You need to hear me share facts and answer questions. Because it’s the right thing to do, ethically, morally and legally,” Montgomery said. “It may be a bit of a tightrope walk, but we are educators, so we are educating instead of campaigning.”
How to get voters to agree to school bonds
Voters rejecting a local bond proposal could be a major blow.
Plans to upgrade old and sometimes literally crumbling buildings are on hold. Hopes to purchase land to build a new facility did not materialize. Maintenance like HVAC upgrades and repairs are postponed for years.
While there's no surefire way to get enough “yes” votes, there are a few ways to help, Rodrequez said.
Along with pointing to previous examples of successful projects, Rodrequez said community members tend to value upfront, clear information about what will be funded and how much it will cost.
He recommended creating documents that explain as clearly as possible the magnitude of the potential tax implications for properties of various values and sharing that information with the community as quickly as possible. He also suggested that superintendents hold large and small meetings to hear from community members and answer their questions.
Online live streaming events allow more people to participate and even submit questions in real time.
The Montgomery, Illinois, superintendent of schools said his district relies on “consistent communication” to share information ahead of the bond vote. This included mailers, a website where people could enter their property values and see how much the bonds would cost, near-constant speeches and forums, and videos about the projects that would be funded.
“If you don’t take the time to get involved in your community, you’re going to be missing a lot,” Montgomery said.
Voting population is higher than parents
Sharon Contreras, who led her Guilford County, North Carolina, district when voters supported the $1.7 billion bond measure in 2022, agreed.
Prior to the vote, Contreras and her team began their first facilities assessment, analyzing each of the district's 126 schools to determine what and how much maintenance was needed.
The million-dollar study was intended to help Guilford County develop a project plan to address issues and establish priorities. On average, the region received about $7 million in capital funding annually from local governments, Contreras said. That's just a tiny fraction of the region's overall budget of about $1 billion. This means that tackling individual large-scale projects such as replacements is impractical. One school's HVAC system per year.
The facilities assessment provided a concrete picture of the work that needed to be done, which the district used as the basis for explaining the loan request.
“I can say, ‘Here’s what independent engineers, consultants, and construction experts are saying,’” Contreras said. “People took that information and tried to draw their own conclusions, and the vast majority of the community came to the following conclusion: [existing building conditions] “It was unacceptable.”
About 66% of voters supported the bond. It was the largest school bond passed in North Carolina at the time, adding to the $300 million in voter bonds approved in the previous election.
When seeking voter support for the bond package, the district isn't just appealing to parents.
In many areas, a significant portion of voters do not have children in the school system. In Guilford County, that number is about 70%. Still, they vote on bond and levy issues, so showing them how they can benefit from their investments can make a difference, Contreras said.
In her community, this involved inviting business leaders to the school to assess their own situation and explain how this could impact potential employees and businesses' decisions to relocate to the area, as well as local home values.
“We had to convince people who weren’t directly involved with the school that this was important to the vitality of the community,” she said.
Other issues regarding ballots
It is also important for school district leaders to be aware of other ballot issues that are not related to the district but could still affect the chances of a bond proposal.
In Jackson County, Missouri, home to the Grandview School District, a 40-year sales tax increase proposal was put on the ballot to partially fund renovations to the new Kansas City Royals baseball stadium and Kansas City Chiefs football stadium. Grandview Bond Proposal.
“That was a concern to me because people might get upset and vote against everything on the ballot,” said Rodrequez, the Grandview superintendent. “So we tried as much as possible to explain to the community the differences between the two projects.”
Voters rejected the stadium tax increase. While they support school bonds.
The three superintendents said the most important takeaway from the success of their district's bond proposal is the importance of building relationships with diverse community members before soliciting their support at the ballot box.
“Relationships, whether in the classroom or outside of the classroom, are the biggest predictor of success,” Montgomery said. “People are smart enough to tell the difference between meaningful and superficial relationships. So it takes a huge amount of bandwidth to do that, but it’s really important to build those relationships early.”