We conducted in-depth interviews with the leaders of 50 school districts—all of whom passed a bond or levy between 2016 and 2019. What we found is that there are no silver bullet strategies. Every district requires a campaign as unique as the communities they represent.
So nothing here is prescriptive. Instead we want to share ideas, strategies, and perspectives that have helped lead these districts to success. In Part 1 of our two-part bond series, we dive into seven different school districts’ elections to get a firsthand look at how they planned, promoted, and ultimately passed bond and levy referendums. These proposals ranged from tens of millions to over one billion dollars—all funds to upgrade schools and improve learning opportunities for students.
Our goal is to showcase great ideas and share the many lessons we learned along the way. Please steal, ignore, or adapt these takeaways as you see fit.