<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0fRSBM_1GxbTtaU00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0fRSBM_1GxbTtaU00" width="2048" height="1365" ><figcaption>Auburn students on the first day of the 2026-2027 school year. Photo courtesy of the Auburn School District.</figcaption></figure>Less than a week following election day, the Auburn School Board held its first meeting since the Auburn School District No. 408 – Proposition No. 1 results came back showing the bond at 52% was not going to pass with the required supermajority of 60%.At the Nov. 9 school board meeting, Auburn Superintendent Alan Spicciati discussed his displeasure, not only about the bond failing for a third time, but also with Washington state’s legal policy. The school board even voted to join a coalition whose goal is to remove the supermajority barrier for school funding.“It’s disappointing but also in fairness, understandable. It was an affordability election, we heard that all over the country. This would have been a pretty significant tax increase in our community and that was a hard time,” Spicciati said. “There are a lot of folks who very sincerely and heartfully said, ‘I support schools and I am really struggling right now.’ I do respect that point of view.”The bond proposed was to help with overcrowding at the middle school level in the district, the construction of three new buildings, including one new middle school. The proposed bond would have raised $491 million over the next 20 years, collecting an estimated $1.10 per $1,000 of assessed property value (APV).Spicciati thanked those at Cascade Middle School and Auburn Citizens for Schools, an all-volunteer organization that has worked to promote the passage of bonds and levies in the Auburn School District since 1985.Spicciati was not disappointed in the community as the bond did breach the 50% mark, but the disappointment was focused more-so on the 60% supermajority barrier.“Unfortunately a 60% supermajority is needed for it [the bond] to pass, so it is not going to make it this time. It is very disappointing, it is the third year in a row we have been in the mid-50s,” Spicciati said.The other notable part of the bond fallout was the Auburn School Board voting to join Washington Investing in School and Education (WISE), a coalition of 16 school districts, now 17, and over 30 organizations and school support systems to try and change Washington state law from a supermajority to a simple majority.Washington is one of 10 states that still has a supermajority in place for school bonds: New Jersey, Iowa, Missouri (57.15%), Oklahoma, Kentucky (66%), New York, West Virginia and Alabama are the other states that require a 3/5ths supermajority for school funding. Spicciati described it as not fair and not right.In modern elections, supermajorities are becoming more and more rare, Spicciati was quick to note in his address to the public. “The three big initiatives in our state, none of them got to 60%,” Spicciati said. “Our last governor who got 60% was Booth Gardner in 1988, I was in high school back then […] Richard Nixon in 1972 had 60%, we should not be held to the standard of a Watergate election to build a school.”Despite the supermajority, Highline School District voters approved a bond with 64% in favor and a levy with 59% in favor. The district is in the cities of Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park and SeaTac.But despite the lack of supermajority support, the Auburn superintendent never doubted the support from the community.“Our community has been awesome. I know we are disappointed, I am as disappointed as anyone. But we have opened nine schools in the last 13 years and passed a large capital levy. Our community has really stepped up,” Spicciati said.In another education-related measure, voters approved the initiative to prohibit students it defines as “biologically male” from competing in certain school athletic activities intended for female students only.“We expect there will be court challenges that will delay implementation,” Spicciati said. “I just want to say we will commit to loving and supporting our transgender students as our highest priority. We all have taken an oath to follow the law and we will do that and work it out. I don’t think something is going to happen December 3rd. We are just going to watch that closely and live our Auburn School District values and support our students through the process.”</div></body>

Block Source: auburn-reporter.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

Less than a week following election day, the Auburn School Board held its first meeting since the Auburn School District No. 408 – Proposition No. 1 results came back showing the bond at 52% was not going to pass with the required supermajority of 60%. At the Nov. 9...

Auburn School District superintendent discusses failed bond

NewsBreak

Less than a week following election day, the Auburn School Board held its first meeting since the Auburn School District No. 408 – Proposition No. 1 result

Auburn School District superintendent discusses failed bond

Comments / 1