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Rogue River school bond soundly defeated By Kevin Opsahl Updated: Nov 09, 2022 01:16 PM A A A proposed $4 million school bond to pay for critical infrastructure projects within the Rogue River School District was soundly defeated Tuesday. Returns from the Jackson County Clerk’s office Wednesday morning showed Measure 15-208 failing by a large margin, 57% to 42%. “Onward and upward, we’re just going to have to respect the tally,” said school board member Mysti Jacob, who supported the bond. “We may, in a couple years, try again.” The school board over the summer asked voters to consider the bond measure, meant to be a continuation of one that is expiring. Asking homeowners with property worth $250,000 to pay a tax increase of $20 annually, the bond would have paid for plumbing and electrical upgrades throughout the district, covered play areas at the elementary school, added a junior high “annex” to the current junior/senior high school, along with new security measures and high school locker room upgrades. The district also promised a $4 million matching grant from the state that could only be used if the bond were approved. “We took great efforts to present a bond measure to the community that reflected what the community has told us that they wanted in our district,” said Rogue River School District Superintendent Patrick Lee. “We felt that the combination of projects listed along with the extra $4 million matching grant from the state would appeal to our voters.” With the results in, Lee said district officials will need to “dig deeper” to figure out why the community did not support the bond, Lee stated. “Once we have that information, we will be better prepared to decide how to proceed,” Lee said. Julie Niles-Fry, a former Rogue River School Board member who voted against the bond, said the overwhelming majority of people care about education, but “new, shiny things” aren’t always something they’re willing to pay for. Jacob speculated the state of the economy and people “wanting to be more conservative with their dollars” was a reason the bond measure was voted down. Niles-Fry thought, too, if the economy was better “maybe they would have voted yes.” “We can try again in a couple years, but what it comes down to is, we’re going to have to live with what we have,” Jacob said. Niles-Fry agreed, but added that projects like a covered playground and a junior/senior high school annex are not necessities. “That’s a lot of money, $4 million,” she said. “What would have happened if we had invested that into something that would have bettered students' education in terms of learning?” With the bond measure no longer an immediate option, Niles-Fry urged the school board and the administration to “take a hard look at the budget.” Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.