Beaverton's $195 million bond - which passed by 60 percent - will build two new elementary schools, two small high schools, add classrooms to several existing schools, provide for facility improvements, and purchase land for a future high school.

The district's long-range facility planning committee, made up of parents, developers, builders, district and central office staff, spent two years studying facility needs.

The process began with data - lots of it - including enrollment projections, current capacity, deferred maintenance in a priority matrix and costs. The group met monthly before making a recommendation to Superintendent Jerry Colonna, who then recommended a bond amount to the school board.

"We first ran our bond in May because we have such a great need to increase capacity and didn't want to miss a building season if the bond passed," Colonna said.

Beaverton had passed a local option in May 2003, and the May 2006 measure got a 61 percent `yes' vote. It failed, however, because of only 42 percent voter turnout.

"We ran the same $195 million bond measure in November with a few project adjustments due to material and cost increases," Colonna said, noting the November campaign was similar to May's, with citizen innovations to increase visibility.

"Our Citizens for School Support (CSS) organized a phone bank and did four weeks of phoning to identify `yes' votes," said Board Chair and Campaign-Co-chair Priscilla Tuner. "It got strategic billboard placement and produced a student radio spot."

CSS also recruited Shoshanna Bean (the Beaverton High alum who starred on Broadway in "Wicked") to record a phone message. CSS was involved in fundraising, Get Out the Vote activities and direct mail. It created buttons and car signs, organized a speakers' bureau, developed a voters' pamphlet with 10 arguments in favor of the bond, and canvassed priority neighborhoods. Volunteers manned "unofficial" ballot drop boxes at more than half of Beaverton's schools. The district sent "remember to vote" postcards and provided information at the fall farmers' markets.

"We felt we were in a good position in November 2006 because of all the education that had been done for the May election," Turner said. "However, we didn't take anything for granted because voters had four other money measures to consider in our service area." All five measures (public safety, fire, libraries and Metro parks) passed.

Bond efforts were guided by two formal surveys (one paid for by the district and one by CSS), past election information, presentations in the community and the long-range facilities committee recommendations. CSS hired Mark Weiner and Associates to advise it on timelines and strategies to help ensure success.

The bond campaign began in earnest in November 2005, building on a foundation of communication and discussion with the community. The theme of the campaign was "Give Kids Room to Learn."

Hundreds of volunteers included teachers, support staff, administrators, parents and community members.

"The fall campaign was a challenge because staff and parents were so focused on back-to-school activities," said Board Vice-Chair (and campaign co-chair) Karen Cunningham. "They met the challenge, however, raising more than $200,000 for both May and November campaigns!"

"We learned in this campaign that you can never give up," said Maureen Wheeler, public communication officer. "You can never do enough outreach and communicating. One-on-one communication is key. You must make your case to the whole community in multiple forms."

Bond campaign organizers found the fall campaign especially challenging, because the November election season is very short. Competition from other money measures on the ballot added to the challenge.

"Our Citizens for School Support made all the difference," Colonna said. "The untiring efforts of its members to creatively reach out to the community were exceptional."

"Accountability measures are in place to ensure completion of promised projects," Colonna said. "We know that we will be back in front of the electorate in another four or five years because of our rapid growth."