Last modified: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 11:01 AM PST Ontario School Board member David Cox (left) speaks with state Rep. Cliff Bentz, a former School Board member, while awaiting Ontario School District bond and presidential results at a gathering for school bond supporters Tuesday at the Holiday Inn. Ontario, Nyssa school bonds fail to gain approval By Larry Meyer and Jessica Keller Argus Observer ONTARIO — The proposed Ontario School District Bond levy was going down to defeat, according to the latest results from the Malheur County Clerk’s office, but by a very narrow margin. The no votes were leading Wednesday morning by less than 100 — 2,551 to 2,444. The gap was down to 60 votes at one point Tuesday night. Ontario School District patrons were asked to approve a levy of $1.49 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which would have raised $18.5 million. The money would have paid for improvements to all schools with a focus on major improvements to the middle school, the high school and three elementary schools. This was to be the second phase of the school district’s long-term plan for improving school facilities over the next 20 years, Phase 1 projects are being paid for out of existing district reserves and votes on funding Phases 3 and 4 are tentatively scheduled for 2016 and 2023. When Ontario School District bond supporters first heard the early results of the measure they were disappointed but hopeful because, at the time, the bond was only down by 60 votes. Still, many were philosophical about the bond’s chances and declared even a loss a victory of sorts. “I feel pretty good, even if this doesn’t pass, we’ll be able to get a bond through maybe when the economy turns around,” school bond supporter Ben Peterson said. The consensus among the supporters was the school bond effort made great gains in district-wide support levels from the last school bond effort a few years ago. “This is already a victory,” State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, former Ontario School Board member who was running unopposed for the state Legislature, said. “This is already a huge victory for this town.” Still, Ontario Middle School Principal Paul Erlebach said nothing changes in regard to school district-wide improvements needing to be completed, and he hopes the Ontario School Board opts to put the measure up for a vote again soon. “The needs are not going to go away,” he said. “I mean, the need’s still there.” Despite the warnings from Nyssa School officials about safety issues and inadequate facilities with costs continuing to rise, voters in the Nyssa School District turned down a request to approve a bond levy to raise $12.7 million to finance construction of a new middle school that would house 350 students. The proposed levy was $5.50 per $100,000 of property values. This was the second attempt to pass levy for a new middle school to replace a building that was formerly a primary school and modular units that are 20 years old. However, a plan to take the bond levy for the elementary school off the tax rolls, the projected savings on utilities and the proposal of the rising construction costs did not convince enough voters.