By Jennifer Moody
For The New Era
Lebanon board members are philosophically in favor of trying for another bond measure to fix aging school buildings, although they haven’t yet decided on cost, scope or timing.
They also know that, right now, voters wouldn’t approve it.
That was the consensus from a Lebanon Community School District Board of Education work session Thursday, Jan. 8. Next steps will be more work sessions to make the necessary decisions to proceed.
Board members heard a presentation Thursday from Kyle Laier of Assist Education Services LLC, a consulting firm in Wilsonville, who went over the results of a voter phone survey from this past November.
Pollers spoke with 400 people to gauge how they would respond, hypothetically, to a $169 million bond request in May 2026 to make repairs throughout the district. No such measure is currently in the works.
Results indicated voters are aware of building needs and agree critical repairs should be made. Respondents did not say they disliked proposed projects or felt they weren’t necessary, but only 40% said they would vote for a bond measure. Another 45% said they can’t afford the tax hike a bond would bring, and the remaining 15% said they didn’t know or were undecided.
Board members did not take a formal vote but said depending on what is ultimately decided for scope and price, they support moving forward on a bond measure plan.
Mike Martin said he would be in favor of a bond measure that centers on repairs, such as roofs and dry rot, rather than new structures. Clyde Rood said he would support a measure as long as it went toward “education” rather than “entertaiment” – meaning, he said, no additional funding for the Lebanon Community Pool, which the district owns, or for a new stadium at Lebanon High School.
The other three board members did not list stipulations for their support.
“I am a definite yes. I would vote for it today. But I also agree that the community is not there,” Lorlee Engler said. “We have a really uphill battle, I think.”
“If we’re going to put it on a ballot and it’s not going to pass, obviously, we have work to do,” Board Chair Nichole Piland said. “Again, my concern is, what do we do in the meantime? Because there definitely are issues.”
Multiple site assessments have found leaking roofs and failing heating and air conditioning systems at several school buildings. Most recently, a 2025 assessment by Soderstrom Architects also recommended repairs or renovations to plumbing, lighting, restrooms, fire alarms, parking lots and exterior siding, among other issues.
Voters were last asked to pass a $20 million bond in May 2022 to replace school roofs, update heating and air conditioning and renovate the community swimming pool, which is owned by the district but operated by the Lebanon Aquatics District. The measure failed.
A $49.85 million bond measure that passed in 2000 will expire in 2030. Among other projects, that measure built Riverview and Pioneer schools and added a second gym, a new classroom wing and a new student commons area to Lebanon High School.
However, even the lowest total of the recommended site fixes under the 2025 Soderstrom report was close to $90 million, rising to more than $98 million if pool repairs and a stadium replacement for Lebanon High School were included.
The top-level recommendation totals $178.92 million, but district officials expect that to be reduced by $10 million because of funding from an Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching grant. That’s why voters were polled about a $169 million bond, according to information from William Lewis, the district’s chief operations officer.
The recommendation includes eliminating Green Acres and Cascades elementary schools and instead building a new 650-student elementary school. That price point also would cover replacing the high school stadium and provide “a small amount of money” for the pool, according to Lewis, along with major repairs for buildings in the rest of the district.
Problems are not getting better with age, Lewis reminded board members, noting that Lebanon High School’s roof leaks every time it rains.
“We’ve been talking about this for over a decade. We have multiple facilities assessments,” he said. “We have a lot of facilities that need significant work, and that is not significant work from a perspective that it’s easy and it’s cheap.This is trying to just keep our kids safe, warm and dry.”
Superintendent Jennifer Meckley said she understands the district doesn’t want to pass a bond that would overlap the existing bond, but that action needs to be taken quickly.
“When I hear the number 2030, it seems really far away,” Meckley said. “What I don’t want is the sense of urgency to go away. I don’t want us to think, OK, well, we’ve got a few years.
“We don’t have a few years.”