An Analysis of a Building Bond Referendum

The decision regarding student housing is one which will affect every school board and administrator. Decisions made by the people involved will affect the community for generations. Making economically feasible and educationally sound decisions regarding student housing is most difficult, especially when one considers many of the variables involved with decisions of this type. Some of the variables researched for this successful building bond referendum were: enrollment patterns, birth rates, cohort survival rates for the district and enrollment projections. The researcher was involved with the facility study committee during the period of time the information was being collected. Once the data had been gathered, the researcher and the school superintendent were given full responsibility for the development of a campaign designed to successfully promote the bond referendum. Some difficulties encountered by the researcher involved community sentiment, economic factors, resentment over taxes and community involvement. The researcher, in conjunction with the superintendent, developed strategies which successfully dealt with these difficulties. The difficulties encountered during a building bond referendum can be overcome. To do so requires the people involved to unite and confront the problems as one. To affect the successful passage of the referendum election, various methods were utilized by the administration. Some of these methods were: An informational brochure The use of a citizens\u27 committee Timely press releases Personal contacts and involvement By having two referendum elections, the researcher was able to note the differences and similarities between both elections. More importantly, the researcher was able to foresee the difficulties to be encountered and ways to help alleviate their presence