After a yearslong effort to create a proposal and receive voter approval, the Summit School District’s $195 million bond proposal failed to pass on Election Day. Officials analyzed the election results at a Nov. 7 meeting, voicing appreciation for high voter turnout while explaining voters should expect another ballot measure asking for assistance in the future.

The bond would have funded maintenance projects, helped bolster occupational training opportunities for students, built workforce housing for teachers and district staff, demolished and rebuilt Breckenridge Elementary School and relocated Snowy Peaks Jr./Sr. High School to be closer to Summit High School. Election results showed 6,893 votes, or 43%, cast in favor of the measure and 9,163 votes, or 57%, cast against it.

While the bond failed, district officials said there are still crucial projects that need funding.

“Voters … we hear you loud and clear,” Board of Education member Chris Guarino said at a Nov. 7 meeting. “We want to regroup, we want to learn, we want to get better, and we’re going to come back to you because the needs aren’t going away.”

Communications director Kerstin Anderson said the timing of this proposal was strategic since the district introduced it in a year where the mill levy was lower. The district made a payment in December on bonds which were refinanced in 2021 at the approval of voters. This lowered the mill levy to 12.828 mills for the 2024-25 school year, a decrease from 12.929 mills for the year prior. 

“That was a pretty unique opportunity in time for us to get a large amount of work accomplished for the benefit of students while offsetting that cost to taxpayers,” she said. “We’ll have to look at a broader timeline to determine if an opportunity like that arises (again).”

Superintendent Tony Byrd said there have not been any solid plans made regarding what could appear in a future ballot measure. He said the only plan solidified for a future bond is ensuring they build a “broad and diverse coalition of support” to back it. 

“I think we’ve got to spend more time listening to community members to figure out what people really do want to get behind in full force,” he said.

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<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Summit School District board of education member Chris Guarino shares his thoughts on the bond failing at a Nov. 7, 2024 meeting. He voiced appreciation for the high voter turn out, noting “It’s huge, the engagement is wonderful.”</figcaption><figcaption>Kit Geary/ Summit Daily News</figcaption>

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In his comments at the Nov. 7 meeting, Guarino said costs associated with projects will only increase with time, so he hopes the district can get projects done “before it gets too expensive.”

Many board members agreed that community input will be crucial in the next bond proposal.

Board member Julie Shapiro said she understands how some voters might not have understood the needs behind every one of the five proposals. 

“It’s also indicative, I think, that it has been an economically tough time for folks, and we can’t ignore that,” she said. 

She said the affordable housing piece of the bond was met with hesitation from voters, so she said officials need to keep that in mind as they think about future proposals.

Byrd said he anticipated the vote would be close. 

“Anytime something doesn’t pass, the natural thing is to be disappointed. … The next reaction from my vantage point was to reflect, as a superintendent, on why it might have been the case that it didn’t pass,” he said. 

He said based on anecdotal community feedback, some voters were wary of the tax increase. If it had passed, there would have been an approximate $13 increase per month in property taxes for a home valued at $1 million. 

He said other feedback he heard was there were a lot of items incorporated into their bond, so some felt it was too complicated to understand. He also heard of cases where voters rejected it even though they liked three-quarters of the items of the bond. 

Byrd said one item voters were seemingly split on, which wasn’t a surprise since the district preemptively surveyed people on it, was the $47 million project that would have demolished and rebuilt Breckenridge Elementary. 

A community poll showed 35% of respondents said they were in support of the district completing critical maintenance investments to extend the life of Breckenridge Elementary and 26% supported building an entirely new school. Around 16% said the district should consider closing the school and combining it with Upper Blue Elementary.

Byrd said he has found community feedback on the $46 million plan to build staff housing interesting. He said some of the disapproval voiced by community members took him by surprise because the district’s polling showed many supported it.

“In the end, it was (that) some people felt like that really wasn’t the district’s work to be involved in,” he said.

He said an aspect of the bond that continues to see support is the district’s plans to expand career and technical education resources and opportunities.