Consultants outline three bond packages to test and warn of organized opposition

Consultants Kyle and Carol laid out the district's path toward evaluating a possible general obligation bond and building community support before bringing any resolution to the board. Kyle said the administration and consultants will run two rounds of resident polling to test price sensitivity and the kinds of projects voters would support.

"The first is a base package: an $8,000,000 bond to ask combined with a $6,000,000 AWESOME grant, which would get us $14,000,000," Kyle said, summarizing the package the facilities committee identified as "critical repairs." He added the team will also test an expanded $10,000,000 ask (plus the same grant) and a larger $18,000,000 package that includes completing six elementary classrooms to change the elementary grade configuration.

Consultants emphasized timing tied to state grant rules: the district has a limited window to use the state matching program (the consultants and district staff estimated a multi‑year limit tied to the original facilities assessment) and an ODE assessment the district recently requested may restart that clock. Kyle recommended two rounds of testing: one to narrow packages and a second to refine messaging and price points.

They also warned of outside opposition. "We're starting to see organized no campaigns," Kyle said, noting such efforts can knock polling into the low end of the margin of error. He recommended early transparency—facility videos, an annual financial report and proactively building a broad coalition of supporters—so the district is "bond prepared" before any formal vote.

Next steps: the district will field the September survey, analyze community feedback to refine a package, and return to the board with poll results to inform a potential future resolution authorizing a bond measure.