Rural voters largely opposed Ephrata school bond; next steps eyed

EPHRATA — Ephrata school officials will seek additional community input while pondering next steps in addressing building needs after voters rejected a $75 million construction bond proposal earlier this month, district superintendent Ken Murray told school board members Monday night.

“The bond fell short by a significant margin,” Murray acknowledged. “There’s a number of things to consider moving forward.”

On Friday, Grant County officials certified results from the Feb. 10 special election.

Only 47.4% of voters within the school district favored the 25-year bond proposition; it needed at least 60% approval for passage.

While Ephrata’s measure was failing, special tax levies were passing for six other area school districts: Coulee-Hartline, Quincy, Royal, Wahluke (Mattawa), Warden, and Wilson Creek.

Their measures range in length from 2 to 4 years and only needed simple-majority votes for approval. They will replace existing property tax levies expiring at the end of 2026. The monies help pay for education programs and operations not funded by the state. Those costs can include sports and other extra-curricular activities, maintenance, staff training, food services, utilities, instructional materials, and some security and technology needs.

Voter turnout within all the school districts combined was only 32%.

On Monday, Murray said it will be important to reconvene and expand community involvement in a school facilities study group which had helped develop the bond proposal placed before voters earlier this month.

They had recommended constructing two new schools to replace decades-old Grant Elementary and Parkway Intermediate, plus building a new performing arts center and adding a secure entryway and classrooms at Ephrata High School. Funding would have come from the bond — paid by an estimated property tax increase of a $1.07 per $1,000 of assessed valuation beginning in 2027 — plus an additional $27.4 million in non-taxed monies provided by the state.

Whether that might be recommended again, and supported by the school board, is unknown.

“We want to slow down and take time to (develop) a proposal that people will support. The wheels will turn slowly and intentionally,” Murray told board members Casey Devine, Matthew Truscott, and Josh Sainsbury. Two other members, Jim Adams and Mike Fleurkens, were not in attendance.

While there is a special election date available in April, along with the statewide primary in August, Murray did not anticipate seeking another vote — if any — until the November general election or a special election date next February.

In the interim, Murray said it was important to get public feedback. He referenced talking to school district employees and their union representatives, and connecting with a larger segment of the community. That likely needs to include reaching beyond Ephrata city limits.

There are 17 voting precincts within the Ephrata School District. Rural voters — including those with more-extensive acreage and property holdings — were largely opposed to the bond. Voters in only five precincts — primarily within or adjacent to city limits — favored the measure and none of the five reached the 60% approval threshhold.

Ephrata has traditionally seen strong support of school funding, including a bond proposition approved by voters in 2019 that paid for modernization and new construction at Columbia Ridge Elementary and the Ephrata Middle School. That measure was also supposed to help pay for the Grant, Parkway, and high school projects, but pandemic-related inflation and other unanticipated delays and costs — such as $3 million spent on asbestos abatement at Columbia Ridge — put the latter projects on hold.

And economic concerns continue to linger. Online criticism of local tax increases were significant for both the recent school bond, and in elections last August and November against a $30 million proposition sought for facility improvements at Columbia Basin Hospital.