Elections officials released final vote counts Tuesday for this month’s special election, confirming that two multimillion-dollar construction bond measures for Clark County schools have passed.
State law holds that school construction bond measures need to hit a 60 percent approval rate to pass. Proposition 5, a $57.7 million measure for Washougal schools, passed with 61.03 percent approval. And Hockinson’s Proposition 1, a $39.9 million measure, passed with 62.21 percent of the vote.
The funds will help the districts build several new facilities. In Washougal, most of that money will go into building a new elementary school and replacing Jemtegaard Middle School and Excelsior, the district’s small alternative high school.
Hockinson will put the money toward a new middle school and several new athletic fields and rooms for band students and wrestling teams. In each district, some of the funding will also be funneled toward security upgrades.
Nearly 18,000 people were eligible to vote between Clark and Skamania counties. With 41.54 percent of Skamania’s eligible voters casting ballots, turnout was a single percentage point higher than in Clark County.
