By SARA MILLER

smiller@portorchardindependent.com

The South Kitsap School District’s board of directors is campaigning once again to pass a construction bond April 26 to build a second high school in Port Orchard.

The district’s nearly $127 million bond measure was defeated — barely — by voters Feb. 9. With the short amount of time between elections, school-bond supporters have some work on their hands to persuade voters to cast their ballots.

Tiffany Wilhelm, co-chair of the bond campaign, said they have come up with several new ways to spread the word and encourage greater voter turnout.

“Our biggest concern is making sure we are giving as much information as possible and increasing message awareness,” Wilhelm said.

When the bond ran in February, it reached a 59.92-percent approval rate, but still was just 37 votes shy of passage. However, only 43 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the school-bond election.

While the bond campaign is working to increase voter turnout, the biggest concern for some voters seems to be this: Why is the bond election being run in April when it would be cheaper to add the bond measure to the general election ballot in November?

Wilhelm said that while delaying the vote until November would be cheaper, the overall project would cost more with a delay.

“If the district waits until November, the new school would open a year later,” she said.

Interest rates have already risen. Wilhelm said the bond package would have to be rewritten and its current 99 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation cost would have to be raised. That, in turn, would add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the project cost.

“That speaks volumes about why we’re running it earlier.”

Another message the bond supporters are addressing is in giving additional information to voters. Wilhelm said a number of people committee members have spoken to, and those reached on social media, have said they didn’t know enough about the bond measure.

“We are working on a more in-depth cost analysis,” she added, and clarifying the various ways school measures get funded.

They are also answering questions about the community’s role in supporting funding for basic education, the difference between a bond and a levy, and how to fund additional teachers for the classroom.

“Our media team is working on creating a ‘need, not a want’ message,” Wilhelm said. “It’s important we explain how this bond benefits everyone.”

The committee also is reaching out to students of voting age at the high school.

“Kids at the high school didn’t know they could register or how to register,” Wilhelm said.

“Now they’re telling us they are making their friends register, as well. They are asking us how to get involved.”

She said the campaign wants to focus on getting people to recognize the importance of voting.

This includes traditional campaign activities such as doorbelling and phone banking.

The group has added information on its handout and on its social media sites.

Wilhelm said the team is combing through social media sites trying to find questions that haven’t been answered.

“We see things like, ‘I would have voted yes, but …’”, she said. “We are trying to focus on getting information to those who need it.”

She said momentum for bond passage is moving in their favor.

Large high schools are no longer the norm in education, she said.

“This is what community is about. It’s about having our youth succeed, not just fit into a larger building.”The South Kitsap School District’s board of directors is campaigning once again to pass a construction bond April 26 to build a second high school in Port Orchard.