Steins Pillar Elementary School in Prineville.

PRINEVILLE — The Crook County School District’s $66 million bond measure still appears to be failing as votes from the May 17 election continue to be tallied, but the latest returns show a slight improvement for the district, suggesting there is still a chance it could pass.

In all, 50.96% of voters have so far rejected the measure, and 49.04% have approved it, according to ballot returns as of Thursday, May 19, reported by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. That’s a difference of just 137 votes, a slight improvement for the district compared to the 174-vote difference Tuesday night.

“We’re holding out some hope,” said Crook County School Board member Doug Smith. “It’s going to be very, very close.”

The district is seeking to bring new and expanded facilities to improve its school programs and security. If the bond is approved, the district can also receive $4 million in grant funds from the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program.

Crook County Clerk Cheryl Seely said Thursday that between 400 to 500 ballots remain uncounted. She said many, if not all, of those ballots would be counted by Thursday evening. But ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if received by Tuesday, May 24.

In her years as clerk, Seely said she has seldom seen a race so close. In 2013, a bond measure for improving elementary school facilities was also decided by fewer than than 200 votes, according to an email from Seely.

But Seely, a near lifelong resident of Crook County, said she has also seen multiple school bonds die in Crook County, including measures for buses and sports. The most recent failure came in 2009, when the district proposed a five-year local option tax for various school operations.

Smith focuses on the district’s maintenance issues. In recent months, he estimates he has spoken to 17 different groups about the bond.

Smith said that the district struggled to rally parent support around this measure, with minimal attendance at school meetings.

“I never felt like we got the parents engaged as much as we could,” he said.

Smith also guessed that rising inflation rates and gas prices may have diminished community interest in the bond since it was placed on the ballot earlier this year. The measure would increase the tax rate by 10 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to district officials

“I can understand that what’s changed since the start of 2022 would concern voters,” he said.

But Crook County’s old school facilities will just get older and more run down, and the cost of their repairs will only increase, said Smith. He said the district invests roughly $600,000 in annual facilities maintenance. That’s roughly 5% of the district’s budget.

Should the district’s bond fail, Smith said they will have to make new plans to go out for another. “There is no other option,” he said.

The bond would fund improvements for leaking roofs, decades-old boilers, undersized cafeterias and locker rooms and an aging auditorium with old equipment.

“It’s gotta be fixed,” Smith said. “And the longer we wait, the more expensive it’s going to be. But I’m a firm believer that, when the voters speak, you listen.”

But Smith acknowledged that it would take a significant improvement for the bond to pass. “It’s gonna take a pretty high positive swing to change it,” he said.

Seely agreed: “If it was all yes votes, it could change it.”