Roseburg Public Schools narrowly lost a bond measure in May of 2020. This spring, the Douglas County district has a much larger bond in front of voters.
Roseburg School’s 11 buildings average 73 years old, and need safety updates and repairs. Superintendent Jared Cordon told KLCC, “Most of our buildings don’t have air conditioning. The heat is oftentimes not operable in a lot of our buildings, and with the advent of wildfires and things like this, the quality of the air here oftentimes is questionable.”
The district determined the schools need about $300 million dollars of work. A committee took polls to gauge support for 30, 40, or 50 percent of the total, and Cordon said, “The community was most supportive of the higher number that we floated out, which was about half of that number. It’s $154 million dollars.”
The bond would add a $1.85 tax per 1,000 dollar assessed property value. If passed, Roseburg Schools will also get a $5.8 million dollar matching grant from the state.
Cordon said it’s been easier to inform people about the bond this year than in 2020, just as the state was locking down. “I vividly remember standing on Garden Valley Boulevard waving signs about the bond," he recalled, "and we had just spray painted these dots six feet apart, where people had to stand. It was kind of surreal. It seems like yesterday and also like an eternity ago.”
They’ve had in-person open houses and tours this spring, and there’s a video online about the high school’s Old Main building, which was completed in 1926.
More about the bond is on the district's website here.
