Bond too close to call now
Richard Byrd/Columbia Basin Herald The Moses Lake school bond to alleviate overcrowding is within a few tenths of a percentage point of passing.
MOSES LAKE — The fate of a $135.3 million bond proposal to build a new, second high school and a new elementary school in Moses Lake is losing by the slimmest of margins.
In updated vote totals released Wednesday by the Grant County Auditor's Office, the bond proposal has 5,609 yes votes and 3,746 no votes, 59.96 percent voting yes. Because it’s a revenue measure, the proposal requires 60 percent to pass.
“We’re on pins and needles,” said district superintendent Michelle Price. The bond gained a little ground from the initial count Tuesday night, when it received 59.74 percent yes. There are still votes to count, with the next update coming Friday at 3 p.m., according to the auditor's website. Ballots that have faults – not signed being one example – are set aside and the voter is contacted before they are added to vote totals.
As of now the difference between passing and failing is four votes, Price said.
The bond includes money for a second high school on Paxson Drive; the land already has been purchased. The new elementary school would be the district’s 11th. A site has not been chosen, although district officials have some possible locations in mind, Price said.
The bond also includes money to renovate the existing Moses Lake High School.
If the bond doesn’t pass, “the board is going to have to make some quick decisions.” During the runup to Tuesday’s election “the board has not talked about a contingency plan.” A bond proposal could be offered again in 2017, with the next election date being April 25, according to the auditor’s office.
The election will be declared final, a process called certification, on Feb. 24. If board members decided to offer the bond again in April, the resolution asking for an election would have to be filed by Feb. 24.
If the bond does pass, Price said the first step will be to start working on the design for a new high school, including a “community process for input on a design.” The new grade school would follow the same general design as Sage Point and Park Orchard elementary schools, although district officials would adapt the design to the site, Price said.
A committee of MLHS teachers and staff is working on a list of needed upgrades, Price said in an earlier interview.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.