School election results final

The final results of the May 16 Oak Harbor High School renovation bond election show 5,048 voters approving the $54 million measure while 2,636 voters said no.

The 65.69 success rate easily surpasses the 60 percent supermajority needed for approval.

The Island County Auditor’s Office certified the election results on Friday.

“It was a very strong showing,” Superintendent Rick Schulte said Tuesday. “Oak Harbor has truly shown it’s a community that supports its schools and knows when things need to be done.”

Schulte was pleased with how the Oak Harbor proposal compared with other school measures from around the state.

He said there were 15 school bond issues on the May 16 ballot statewide.

Of those measures, four passed and 11 failed. Of the ones that passed, Oak Harbor’s bond election had the greatest percentage of success.

He was also satisfied with the election turnout where 7,684 people voted, saying that is a good number for a special election. There are 16,635 voters living in the Oak Harbor School District, meaning 46 percent of the voters cast ballots.

With the approval of the bond, school district officials are getting ready for the next steps needed to renovate the high school.

Preliminary plans call for adding 38,000 square feet to the high school and upgrading the infrastructure.

The two next steps will be to sell bonds and to find an architect to design renovation plans.

Schulte said he expects the bond sale to happen by the end of June.

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