Passing School Bonds – What Does it Take?

October 20, 2011

70%
50%
40%
60%
13,201
$75,000
$100,000

70% is the number of Issaquah School District residents that don’t have kids in K-12. Therefore, only 30% of the population has a personal stake in passing the Bond. This number is probably lower than actual – the national norm is 80%, we are extrapolating from the norm and purposely going lower then we think.

50% of parents are currently registered to vote.   Roughly 12,500 families or 25,000 parents, this leaves 12,500 parents who can vote on election day. This was data was gathered from past elections in Issaquah.

40% of registered voters will vote in this special election.  40% is how many voted in the 2010 levy election.  We can count on 40% of registered parents to vote which is 5,000 parents.

60% Plus one is the percentage of YES votes needed to pass the Bond.  Because of state laws, a school Bond  must be passed by a SUPERMAJORITY, or 60% plus one of the voters.

13,201 is the number of YES votes we need to win the election.  Total registered voters are 55,000. Our entire campaign is focused on finding 13,201 people who agree that they will vote YES for the school Bond and then reminding them to vote via mailings and phone calls.  How did we get the number 13,201? We have about 55,000 registered voters in ISD.  If 40% actually vote, we can expect 22,000 votes.  We need a super majority to win, so calculate at 60%+1.

$75,000 is how much the campaign will cost to pass our Bond. Unbeknownst to most, the school district cannot run a campaign.  They can discuss the facts, but they can’t put out special mailers or urge you to vote YES.  It takes a political campaign, made up of volunteer citizens to run the campaign.  The campaign will spend money on mailings, consultants, and polling.

$100,000 is roughly how much it costs the school district to run a ballot issue.  The school district must pay King County for the special election.  If we lose the election, and we have to run this ballot issue again, the school district must pay the $100,000 again.  This is not budgeted money and would have to be taken from existing programs.

1999 Bond Failed Twice before passing on the third try
ISD ran a Bond close to this size and we failed twice before we finally passed on the third try. 1999 Bond-Levy ballot  costs actually range from $75,000-$125,000 depending on a lot of factors like who else is running an issue etc.

How can an individual help?                             

  • Endorse
  • Donate money to the campaign
  • Sign up to help when we ask
  • Wear a button, put a magnet on your car

We need VIS reps in every school

We need Volunteers… LOTS of Volunteers!

  • We need a Literature drop coordinator
  • We need a speaker series coordinator
  • We need sports group representatives

How can an organization help?

As an organization do all of the above.

 


Posted in Uncategorized