Child holding up "Thank you!" sign

The La Grande School District is celebrating the unofficial passage of its General Obligation bond on the May 17th ballot. As of Wednesday, May 18th, votes received by County Elections indicate passage of the bond with 58.65% YES votes and 41.35% NO votes, with a margin of 800 votes.

Superintendent George Mendoza said the district is confident of the bond’s passage. “We are extremely pleased to be celebrating the strong YES we received from our voters for the bond. It’s a positive vote of confidence for the district and what we hope to achieve in the future. Thank you to all the voters who committed to improving facilities for student success in our community,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said he appreciates all of the district staff who worked on the district’s bond information campaign and appreciates the PAC that worked very hard on their own campaign supporting the bond. “I am thankful for all our staff for creating a district that our community is confident to support. The community's YES vote was for our students, but it is also a big nod to the work and dedication of our employees and a community that trusts and appreciates them.”

The bond will fund two projects for La Grande School District:

• Replace the Annex at La Grande Middle School with a multi-use academic and athletic center that will also serve as a community event center.

• Move the Maintenance/Grounds/Facilities operations from the Annex to the Adams Professional Plaza.

The bond will raise $4.845 million, and LGSD will receive a matching grant from the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching (OSCIM) Program of $4 million. A total of $8.845 million will be used for projects.

Updates about bond projects will be available in the future on the district website.