QUILCENE — The failure of the Quilcene School District’s $12.3 million bond measure was cemented Wednesday, with 50.93 percent of voters rejecting it and 49.07 percent voting for it, according to the second count by the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office.
A bond requires a 60 percent supermajority to pass, and this proposal lost for a second time.
Back in February, the Quilcene school bond was rejected by a mere five-vote margin.
This time, the measure, which would have funded construction of a new Quilcene elementary school to replace the old one, built a career and technical education (CTE) facility and upgraded the athletic fields, lost by a slightly larger number. It received 473 yes votes and 491 no votes in the count finished Wednesday afternoon.
The turnout in this special election was 59.18 percent, with a total of 964 ballots tallied out of 1,629 provided to registered voters. Certification, and the next count of ballots, is set for May 6. None were left on hand to count Wednesday, but it is possible more could come in by mail this week.
Quilcene School District Superintendent Frank Redmon could not be reached for comment by deadline. Earlier this month, when he spoke to the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners about the bond measure, he emphasized that his schools’ facilities are in great need of updating: Quilcene Elementary School was built in 1946 with an addition in 1948, Redmon said, adding it needed replacing or rebuilding some 30 years ago.
CTE courses at Quilcene High School include a professional cooking class and an agriculture program. The district has wanted to add a shop and other career training, but it has no room, Redmon said.
As for the athletic fields, they were built to Little League standards and don’t meet current standards set by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, he said.
Roger Sorensen, the local resident who wrote the statement against the bond measure in the auditor’s ballot pamphlet, said Wednesday the proposed improvements were too costly; the new classrooms would have been “fancy,” he said.
“You know, I hope the school board can come up with a better option,” instead of the bond, Sorensen said.
The bond, which would have replaced the Quilcene School District capital levy passed in 2020, was based on repayment through property taxes over the next 20 years. The tax rate was calculated at $1.74 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, the same amount district property owners pay currently for the capital levy.
Kathleen Kler, the former county commissioner who wrote the ballot pamphlet statement in favor of the measure, noted that Quilcene Elementary has been rated structurally unsafe and that CTE classes now “are crammed into the old bus barn.”
Kler, who spent much of April distributing information about the proposed bond, could not be reached for comment before deadline Wednesday.
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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.