Reversing what happened on election night, a $262 million Snohomish School District bond measure is now passing by 56 votes after a big batch of mail-in ballots was counted Thursday.
The measure trailed narrowly after Tuesday’s election night, but Thursday’s count pushed it over the 60 percent supermajority it needs to pass. It now has a 60.45 percent “yes” vote with the election department expected to count more ballots Wednesday.
“We are as confident as we can be until they can certify the election,” said Betty Robertson, the school district’s acting superintendent. “This just means so much to our community. I’m so proud of this community for passing this in difficult times and to make this happen.”
In Snohomish, 2,041 more votes were counted Thursday. The new count is 7,663 “yes” to 5,014 “no.”
The 20-year bond proposal would provide funding for work to renovate the century-old Snohomish High School, renovate and expand Valley View Middle School, expand Centennial Middle School, replace Machias and Riverview elementary schools, build a new aquatics center for school and community use and improve technology.
The Snohomish School Board has yet to set a schedule for completing each of the projects, but work will continue at the high school where the renovation already is under way.
Patty Venema, a volunteer with the pro-bond Citizens For Snohomish Schools committee, said there was more community involvement after the measure failed in March with a 57.2 percent “yes” vote. There were 1,500 volunteers who spent more than 7,000 hours campaigning for the bond.
“We had way more people step up to the plate this time around,” she said.
Elsewhere, Thursday’s count didn’t change the results for a $139.2 million bond measure in Mukilteo that was failing and a technology and capital projects levy that was passing in Edmonds.
Arlington voters for the third time almost certainly failed to approve a bond issue for a new $8.8 million library.
The measure also needed a 60 percent supermajority for passage, but 56.33 percent voted to approve the bond issue. This was the third time since 2000 that voters had been asked to decide their library’s fate. In 2006, the measure fell short of the 60 percent needed to pass by just 28 votes.
After Thursday’s count, the library measure was about 223 votes short of 60 percent. The vote count was 3,424 for the bond issue and 2,654 against.
Longtime library supporter George Boulton, who had hoped that the ballots turned in on Tuesday would turn the election, said he is disappointed at the outcome.
“We have no plans for trying again because we were hopeful that people would appreciate the value of their library,” Boulton said.
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