When it Comes to School Bond Planning, Maybe Leaders Should Look to Latest Election Results for Guidance?

The Snoqualmie Valley School District had a 4-way school board primary on August 6th.  Approximately 25% of registered voters mailed in their ballots – about equal to the 2009 SVSD school board primary election.

Only one incumbent made it through the August primary, as it appears current SVSD School Board President, Scott Hodgins, will finish the primary race in third place.

Hodgins’ fellow incumbent, Marci Busby, received 31% of votes cast and former State House of Representatives candidate, David Spring received 27% of votes.  There are still a few remaining votes to count, but it appears Busby and Spring will face off in the November general election.

If Busby does not win in November, she will be the fourth SVSD school board incumbent to be voted out of office since 2011.

Three of the four primary candidates vying for North Bend’s District 4 school board seat shared the similar position that 9th graders (ultimately) belong on the main Mount Si High School campus, not on a separate freshman campus for the foreseeable future, which is the administration’s current plan.

Only Marci Busby took the election position that 9th graders belong on that separate campus. Busby received 31% of votes cast.  The other three candidates received 69% of the votes.

Does that tell the school board and administration how a majority of voters (and the community ) feel about their current facilities plan? Maybe.

The 9th grade campus and long-term location of freshmen was the big election issue that differentiated Busby from the three other candidates – and those three candidates, Hodgins, Kangas and Spring, received 69% of the votes.

The school board is currently planning for the next school bond, attempting to create a long-term school facilities plan for the next 10 years.

69% of voters in the August school board primary election cast their ballot for candidates who feel freshman ultimately belong in a comprehensive 9th-12th grade high school.

Maybe this election result can help guide the school board’s bond planning…

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  • 116 respondents concluded a survey on August 13 that contained direct questions about the Freshman Learning Center. Of those respondents, 37 (32%) supported “A freshman learning center segregated from the main campus”; 15 (13%) responded “Slightly Disagree”, 25 (22%) responded “Disagree”, and 39 (34%) responded “Strongly Disagree”. More respondents (39) responded “Strongly Disagree” than respondents in support of the Freshman Learning Center (37).
    Full survey results are available at http://www.slideshare.net/chrisalef/survey-results-25245066, with results about the Freshman Learning Center on slide 11.

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