On Election Day, almost 59% of Ferndale, Wash., voters said that they'd be willing to raise property taxes to finance $112 million in bonds to build a new high school and finance other educational projects.
But it was a bitter pill to swallow across the district, which has about 4,700 students in nine schools, because state law requires bond measures get 60% approval.
Statewide, only five of 17 similar school bond measures passed, according to The News Tribune of Tacoma — sparking anger, frustration and calls to change a World War II-era amendment to the Washington Constitution that requires a higher margin of passage for bond measures.
When the state Constitution was written in 1889, only a simple majority was necessary for a bond measure to pass.
"I'm a homeschooler and will never use the school system, but having good schools is better for everyone," Meagan McGovern said Thursday in response to a social media inquiry.
"And anyone who voted against it is shortsighted — no one will move to Ferndale if there are better schools 10 minutes away, without rats in them."
McGovern, who was among dozens of readers who commented at The Bellingham Herald's Facebook page, was referring to a YouTube video posted in January that shows a rat scampering through the halls of Ferndale High.
Schools Superintendent Linda Quinn said in an interview Thursday that the video may have sensationalized the vermin problems, but not the numerous and more critical troubles facing the district.
"We have a great school, but it's a lousy facility," Quinn said. "Our school is a community meeting place. It's a public asset and we have to take care of our public assets."
Chief among the projects that the bond would have funded was a new high school — one originally built in the 1930s with extensions added until the 1970s, according to Quinn and the website weareferndale.org, which was created as part of a community effort to support the bond.
The bond measure had no organized opposition, and no one wrote a statement against it on the Whatcom County voter pamphlet.
But it failed by less than 2%.
To the school officials, community member, engineers, architects and others who made recommendations, a new building was seen as cheaper than remodeling, and they said it would solve a range of issues, including poor security for students and staff, constant heating system failures, roof leaks and deteriorating athletic facilities.
"We deal with leaks all the time, and we haven't had a home track meet in seven years," Quinn said. "We have a new auditorium and a new gym, but they were built in the '70s."
Quinn said the high school's boiler is so old that repair parts must be fabricated from scratch, not bought, and students simply endure the cold when it breaks.
She said she had hoped for a better result for the bond after voters rejected a similar measure in 2014, 69% to 31%.
"It was an epic fail," Quinn said.
To persuade voters, the district formed a community task force and guided the measure toward a midterm election with high voter interest.
School ballots are often held in February as a single-issue special election.
Bellingham voters, for example, approved a $155 million bond measure in February 2018 by a margin of 70% to 30%.
But not all bond measures pass as easily, and the passage rate is 1 in every 4 attempts, Quinn said.
"Sixty percent is a very high bar to make when you're trying to pass a tax measure," she said.
That's why state Sen. Mark Mullet, an Issaquah Democrat, introduced a bill in the last legislative session to reduce the bond passage requirement to 55%, The News Tribune reported in an article earlier this month.
That resolution, which failed to reach the Senate floor, also had the support of state schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal, according to The News Tribune.
Amending the state Constitution is also a tough task, requiring a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate, and then a vote of the people.
"The Legislature has been trying to change this super majority," state Sen. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, told The News Tribune. "We had Democratic support and not enough Republican support."
But some Democratic leaders are more hopeful this session, as the Nov. 6 election brought 14 new Democratic seats to the House, with two more races undecided, and 2 new Democrats to the Senate, with two races undecided, according to Ansley Lacitis, communications director for the state Democratic Party.
In an email, Ferndale schools spokeswoman Erin Vincent said about 125 people attended a town hall meeting Thursday to discuss the school's options in the wake of the measure's defeat.
And on Wednesday, about 100 students walked out of class in protest of the ballot result.
"Revitalizing our community should start with our schools," Quinn said. "It's a matter of community pride."
