By Stephen Floyd
The Silver Falls School District (SFSD) Board has approved a $73 million bond measure for the May 21 ballot with hopes of wooing voters who rejected a $138 million bond last November.
In a 6-1 vote Feb. 12, the board agreed to ask voters to consider a bond that would replace Silverton Middle School and provide critical upgrades at Silverton High School.
If passed, the bond would be paired with a $6 million state grant. If the bond fails the district would not qualify for the grant.
Prior to the vote, board members said they took into account criticisms that the previous bond was too expensive and residents could not afford the tax increase. The current proposal would keep property taxes virtually unchanged after an existing bond for Phase II of SHS expires in 2027, roughly $1.96 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Vice Chair Aaron Koch said the $73 million bond addresses critical facility needs while also providing voters with a proposal he described as “cost-neutral.”
“We’re doing our best to hear from our community,” said Koch.
On Nov. 7, 2023, voters rejected Measure 24-486 with 55.76% disapproval. The $138 million bond would have addressed critical infrastructure needs at all 11 schools in the district, including a new building for Silverton Middle School.
After the measure failed, district officials weighed whether or not a follow-up proposal in May of 2024 would be realistic, given the heavy opposition to the bond and the short turnaround time. The board said they had momentum and public feedback after the November election, and that the deteriorating SMS campus was a critical problem, so they chose to scale down the prior bond.
One difference with this election is the board wants to emphasize how a “No” vote could impact the fate of the current SMS building. The district spends around an additional $100,000 each year to maintain the facility, and if a need arose to decommission the building hundreds of students would be displaced.
“If we don’t replace Silverton Middle School, the general fund will keep bleeding and we may have to make some drastic changes in how we educate our students,” Board Chair Jennifer Traeger said.
The sole “no” votec came from Board Member Tom Buchholz, who said the proposal was unlikely to sway voters who struck down the previous bond. He recommended a $6 million bond for improvements at SHS, to be paired with the state grant, and said this would be a “base hit” voters could get behind rather than an attempted “home run”.
Buchholz said he would likely vote yes on the measure itself in May, but said as a board member he could not support the $73 million proposal when he saw an alternative.
District resident Karl Dettwyler, who led a PAC opposing the $138 million bond, told the board during public comment he thought the $73 million bond would be “challenging” to pass.
Dettwyler said the $6 million proposal would do more to generate community positivity and allow time for the district to confer with concerned voters before proposing a larger bond in 2027.
