Improving the teaching and learning environment is top priority in Glide School District's $10,800,000 bond.

The heating system "took a dive" right before the election, according to Superintendent Don Schrader. That put heat at the top of a list that also included repairing leaking roofs and plumbing and building an addition to the high school gymnasium with new science labs as well as gym space.

A facilities task force (composed of a dozen or so community members, staff and board members "who've been around a long time," Schrader said) began identifying priorities last year. They did an initial walk-through of the schools and came up with a list of projects.

"We had an architect give us an idea of the costs of our priorities, and we held town-hall meetings to discuss concerns and projects with the community," Schrader said.

Voter research in Glide was primarily conducted one on one in conversations at local restaurants, during barbecues at football games, and at the town-hall meetings.

"We talked about what we needed to do to make our facilities safe," Schrader said. "A formal survey wouldn't have changed our board chair's mind, he (Michael Madson) was going for a bond."

Pride for Glide, the district's advocacy group, began its work in September after the bond proposal was announced. The group, which held a public meeting every Monday until the election, raised $1,900 through donations. Local businesses also contributed signs and printing to the campaign.

"School tours were our best advertisement," Schrader said. "The community was invited to another walk-through at the high school, where they could see (maybe even smell) the problems that arise when schools are cramped for space."

Space concerns

The Glide wrestling team currently has to practice after school in the cafeteria, where breakfast is served to students the following morning.

Other school superintendents offered advice about the campaign, but outside consultants were not used. Glide School District won on its first attempt to pass the bond.

"What we did right was to get the right people connected," Schrader said. "We had one mom and one dad who were completely dedicated to making our schools better. We had all of our board members going in the same direction on this one, and it was the mission of our board chair to get the bond passed."

Glide School District covers 1,200 square miles, from Diamond Lake to Roseburg. Voters are spread over a broad area and include a large retirement community. The district learned from this bond campaign that a survey before announcing for the election would have been helpful in judging the support of those wide-ranging voters.

Reining in the wish list

The biggest obstacle in the campaign was getting focused on the priorities and not letting the "wish list" get out of hand. Schrader said that some people wanted to replace Glide's '50s-era high school rather than remodel it.

"But if we went for a new high school, it would have been a $20 million bond and that would have been an obstacle," Schrader said.

Architects assured the district that the walls of the old high school were sound.

Schrader believes that letting the community see firsthand the needs in the school facilities and getting the right parents involved in the bond campaign were the keys to success. But, he said, "It just so happened that the heating system went down right before the election. This may have contributed to our success. It was just like clockwork!"