School bonds, taxes renewed

There was a mixture of confidence and relief across three local school districts Tuesday night, as voters passed bond measures in a series of three all-mail elections.

Voters in Curry and Roosevelt counties approved bond or mil levy questions in all-mail elections that concluded Tuesday evening for the Clovis, Portales and Floyd school districts. Tax rates will not change for voters in any school district.

Clovis’ election had a pair of questions. The first question to renew $10 million in bonds, last renewed in 2017, passed with two-thirds of the vote, 2,479-1,228. A separate question on a capital improvements tax question just missed a 60% yes vote, with 2,168 votes for and 1,463 against.

Superintendent Renee Russ said there were concerns with Clovis’ first all-mail election, given the hotly debated 2020 general election.

“Clovis area voters have historically shown great support to the district in previous bond and capital improvements elections,” Russ said. “We knew our greatest challenges would be finding new ways to communicate with voters during the pandemic and gaining their confidence in the all mail election process.”

A total of 3,835 mail ballots were returned by voters in the Clovis district. The bond question had 124 undervotes and four overvotes, while the tax question had 198 undervotes and six overvotes.

The district spent nearly $50,000 on the election, including $13,814 on outgoing ballots and $5,505 on return postage. The district spent $11,174 on promotion, with more than half of that dedicated to a postcard sent to every registered voter in the Clovis district to watch out for the ballot.

“Our fear,” Russ said, “was that voters might inadvertently throw away their ballots without realizing what they were, so the postcards sent ahead of time seemed to work well to alert voters that ballots would be arriving soon.”

Plans for the $10 million in bonds and the capital improvements tax include renovations at Barry Elementary, building upgrades at the Clovis High agricultural farm, parking lot improvements at Yucca Middle School, security fencing at Gattis Middle School and roof and HVAC replacements at CHS, Sandia Elementary, the Student Support Center and the iAcademy at Lincoln Jackson. District-wide expenditures would include maintenance and items including student Chromebooks, classroom software and wi-fi routers.

The Portales school district's bond election had the highest approval rate at 72%, with 1,175 votes for and 458 against. The cost of the election was about $17,000.

Superintendent Johnnie Cain said the $7 million will be dispersed over two cycles, with half coming this spring and the rest in 2023. Some of the plans for the funding include a new science class at Portales High School; athletic complex construction at PHS to include a softball field, tennis courts and a resurfaced track; a media center at PHS; roofing projects at PHS and James Elementary; planning and possible construction on a remodel at James.

“The school was built in the 1960s with additions after that,” Cain said of James. “It is in need of updating and addition of a library and computer lab and enlarging of the kitchen. This will help us to get teachers and students out of portables and into the classrooms. Voters in the Portales school district are very supportive and proud of the schools and, of course, the board and staff at all of our schools want to thank everyone for that support.”

Floyd's election was much closer, with voters approving taxes by an 82-63 count -- 56.6% of the vote. Through renewal of a two-mil level, will receive about $70,000 per year. The district spent about $900 on the election.

Floyd Superintendent Damon Terry said he was thankful to the voters for passage, particularly since a different bond question failed in 2016. In the past, the district has used the money on various upgrades including security cameras, LED lighting and a parking lot upgrade.

Votes are considered unofficial until canvasses are approved by their respective county commissions. The Roosevelt commission meets Monday, while the Curry commission will meet Thursday.