Eastmont Schools Likely To Send Bond Package To Voters In 2024

The Eastmont School District will be looking to ask voters to pass a bond package, once new board members are in place later this year.  

A record $185 million bond was rejected in last year's election. 

Eastmont School Board member Meaghan Vibbert says they now have a better idea on how to move forward after hearing what residents said about the last package. 

"The last bond was too much," said Vibbert. "There wasn't enough information about it. And it was just bad economic timing, which I totally agree with." 

The new package would also be scaled down in size. 

"It would only update three of the four elementary schools that we were proposing, and it takes away the athletic facility component of it," Vibbert said. "But of course, we would have all those safety measures that we had suggested in the first bond." 

Vibbert says the next bond package they send to voters will not raise property taxes in the Eastmont district. It would kick in after an existing six-year tax levy from 2016 ends. 

That package saw the construction of 20 new classrooms and four cafeterias. 

It was also a levy, which only needs a simple majority vote to pass while a bond requires 60 percent approval. 

The bond that failed last year would have built new classrooms at Cascade, Kenroy, Lee and Rock Island elementary schools, and five portables would have been replaced at Cascade, Kenroy and Lee elementary schools. 

It also would have made upgrades at Sterling Junior High School and the athletic complex at Eastmont High School. 

In addition, outdoor hallways would have been eliminated and a secure entrance way at every school that does not have one would have been created. 

The new bond package has not been finalized, but Vibbert said all the safety features from last year’s package would be included 

All candidates in the Eastmont School Board election this year are running unopposed, which means the election is just a formality and each candidate will be sworn in and serve on the board. 

Vibbert is one of at least two incumbents who will return. She'll be serving a second four-year term.