Two Marysville School District measures lost ground on Thursday, casting doubt on an operations levy and a bond proposal to build new schools.
The district is likely to learn today the fate of a four-year levy that would account for about 19 percent of the district’s budget, and a $118 million bond that would pay for another high school and elementary school.
About 10,000 Snohomish County ballots have yet to be counted, but there’s no breakdown of how many of them are from Marysville, said Carolyn Diepenbrock, county elections supervisor.
More than 700 Marysville ballots were counted on Thursday.
The operation levy had a 59.4 percent “yes” vote on Thursday. It had a 59.62 percent “yes” vote on Wednesday and a 59.41 percent “yes” vote on Tuesday.
The bond had a 59.14 percent “yes” vote on Wednesday, down slightly from an election night total of 59.18 percent.
So far, neither measure has received the bump in late-arriving mail-in ballots a Marysville bond measure received in May, when the “yes” vote rose 1 percent to 58.82 percent.
No outcomes have been changed on school measures in the county with the latest absentee ballot counts.
Marysville Superintendent Larry Nyland acknowledged that the district faces long odds, particularly with the bond measure.
“If there are 1,500 (Marysville) ballots out there left, we would need 64 percent of those to be ‘yes’ for the levy, and 66 percent for the bond,” he said.
“It is not likely that the bond will make it, and it looks somewhat iffy that the levy will make it.”
By state law, levies and bonds require a 60 percent supermajority to pass. School districts are allowed two attempts a year to pass levies and bonds.
District leaders hoped lowering the bond from $171 million to $118 million would push the proposition over the top this time. Two attempts last year lost narrowly.
The district now has 3,000 students in 117 portables. Marysville-Pilchuck High School, already 650 students over capacity with 2,400 students, is the second largest in the state.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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