Handful of votes could push Pasco School Bond to pass

As of Wednesday evening, the Pasco School Bond had garnered 5,917 yes votes, or 59.73%. That's just about 2 dozen votes shy of the 60% needed for the bond to pass.

With Washington's vote-by-mail election, ballots will continue to trickle into the Franklin County Auditor's office for a few days after election day, which was November 7th.

"We'll continue to closely monitor the returns as they get updated over the next few days," said Shane Edinger with the Pasco School District. "When we ran our bond election in February, our numbers started at about the same place and we gained a few more 'yes' votes."

Edinger says that if the bond doesn't pass, the district will as its Community Builders group to take another look at the district's growing need for classroom space, and plot a new path forward.

"Depending on the outcome of the election, their task focus may change a bit," Edinger said. "We'll be asking them to work on providing some direction to seek some short and long term solutions to meet the needs of our growing student population."

The district assembled the Community Builders group after February's failed bond effort. The group met several times in the spring and summer to come up with a list of the district's most pressing needs. Their work is what led to the most recent bond proposal.

The elections results must be certified with the Secretary of State's office by December 7, 2017.