In the small northeastern Oregon community of Adrian, voters agreed to a big tax boost to improve their aging school facilities.

Superintendent Gene Mills said his community approved an estimated $3.13 per $1,000 because schools are the center of activity in the community.

Supporters rallied around their schools and voters passed a bond to replace an aging K-8 facility by just eight votes. Mills said he expected the margin to be close because the price tag was high - $3.78 million.

"We don't have a large tax base, and there is no industry to support schools," he said. "Folks agreed to tax themselves and pay the bill over the next three decades."

Our goal was to be sincere and honest about the need.
Gene Mills, Superintendent, Adrian School District

School bonds are rare in this community, which sees little enrollment growth. The campaign succeeded on the first attempt; however, a levy for a gym was narrowly defeated in 1998 and was the only previous attempt for a bond levy in 30 years.

There are 251 students in K-12 - about 25 in each grade. The new K-8 building will accommodate approximately 200 students but will not have a gym or cafeteria.

The bond grew out of a need to make major repairs to existing schools. A 15-member facilities committee made up of staff, board and community members studied options for six months before settling on the bond proposal. Their research indicated that repairs of the old building could cost the same as a new building.

The bond campaign started with an aggressive voter-registration effort. "We focused on voter turnout and hoped that the majority would support the measure," said Mills.

Other campaign tactics included personal phone calls to get as many ballots returned as possible, ads in the local paper, and bond information in mailings to all district patrons and in monthly newsletters.

There were no outside consultants or fundraising efforts. The strategy was to focus on sharing information.

"Our goal was to be honest with people about the need," said Mills. People believed the information from the committee and the board and supported the bond," said Mills.

Mills believes that small towns rally around their schools even though high tax rates test the limits of their support.

"There is a lot of support in rural areas for schools. They are the center of activity for the community - probably more so than in larger towns. In many cases, they provide the only source of community activity."