It looks like the Bellevue School District (BSD) will be receiving a $675 million bond according to early election returns on Feb. 11.
Early election returns show the levy passing by 62.52%. To pass, a bond must receive 60% voter approval with a minimum of 40% voter turnout.
The final election results will be available Feb. 21 (after the Reporter’s press deadline). If approved, it will be the largest bond the school district has ever received.
“This bond will help the Bellevue School District build more education space for our students, replace aging school buildings, improve safety and security at our campuses, and better position our district and community for future growth and improvement,” BSD Superintendent Dr. Ivan Duran said in a press release.
The capital bond will allow for complete replacements of Big Picture School, International School and Jing Mei Elementary. The bond also will fund renovations for Newport and Interlake High Schools, as well as provide modern learning spaces for science, technology, engineering and math classes.
The capital bond will add security vestibules to eight schools that currently do not have them. Security vestibules make visitors enter the vestibule before entering the main school area and require them to enter the office to check-in before gaining access to the rest of the building.
In addition to security vestibules, the capital bond will add safety posts in front of 19 school entrances that do not have them. Fitting the entrance and exit points with fixed bollards protects them from potential vehicle impact, protecting students, staff and families inside and around the doorway, the district said.
The capital bond also will fund the replacement of the aging education service centers. It will implement modern facilities to allow central office staff and administrators to better support students, teachers and the community.
And the capital bond will designate to purchase property for future school locations.
If approved, the local tax rate for the schools will increase by $0.03 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of less than 1%.
For the average valued home of $850,000, a Bellevue resident currently pays $2.43 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to BSD. With the proposed bond, that will increase by 3 cents a year, or $2.46 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $25.50 per year for the average valued home.
“All voter-approved funding stays in our school district to benefit our Bellevue students. Major construction projects are not funded with state dollars, but instead rely on these funding measures,” the district said in a press release.
For more information about the bond, visit the district’s website online at https://bsd405.org/.
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