The Highline School District's $148 million bond issue has passed on its first try.

With all votes cast at polls in the March 14 election and most of the absentee votes counted, 64.35 percent (11,311) of Highline voters approved the bond while 35.65 percent (6,267) rejected it. Final results will be certified on March 23.

The bond would finance the rebuilding of four elementary schools and other district upgrades. McMicken Heights Elementary in SeaTac would be rebuilt using state matching funds.

It took three tries over 18 months for the bond covering the district's first phase of capital improvements to win approval in March 2002.

The district's last special levy to fund educational programs also needed a second election before it was approved.

Denny Eliason, chairman of Highline Citizens for Schools, said he is "thrilled" by the victory. His volunteer group ran the pro-bond campaign with the help of a hired campaign manager.

The preliminary election results demonstrate "a real sense of confidence in the school district and the administration," Eliason declared.

"The rebuilding of the schools approved in the first bond on time and on budget resonates very well with voters. The schools were built in a thoughtful way."

Six newly rebuilt elementary schools have been reopened. Mt. Rainier High, Cedarhurst and Bow Lake are set to reopen in September 2007.

Eliason rejects claims that the district is building elaborate buildings instead of focusing funds on improving educational programs.

"The buildings are anything but fancy," Eliason said. "You can't have a quality education without going to a healthy, safe school."

District spokeswoman Catherine Carbone Rogers, who characterizes the new schools as "good solid buildings," pointed out that Highline voters had not passed a construction bond in the 16 years before 2002.

"We have more needs than some other neighborhoods, but thanks to the community we are catching up," Rogers said.

Technology upgrades included in the bond would also let instructors use modern computer educational programs.

New technology that allows parents to track their child's grades, homework assignments and attendance over the Internet promotes parental involvement that improves student achievement, she added.

Eliason said his group promotes both capital facilities and educational programs.

"In our minds we can't have one without the other," he said.

After this bond election, Citizens for Schools is focusing on a levy campaign next year to fund educational programs, he said.

But district critic Bob Ross of Normandy Park said he feels voters were "sold a Lexus with a Volkswagen engine."

"The 'omnibus' package school bond that finally passed had something for everybody, except the assurance that children will achieve high academic standards and really learn," Ross declared.

"Can we be assured that this 'progressive' learning environment will reduce the drop-out rate, restore order in the classroom where teachers either lack or are deprived of their authority, bad teachers are retained and students with no desire to learn are promoted socially not academically?"

After five recent bond and levy elections, the citizens group "has developed a winning formula for success," Eliason noted.

He said favorable voters and the issues important to them are identified through polling, messages are developed around the important messages and supporters are "turned out" to vote.

A large mailing, 20,000 phone calls and sign placements were "highly targeted," Eliason added.

If last week's results hold up, newly rebuilt Shorewood in Burien and Midway in Des Moines would reopen in September 2008, while Parkside in Des Moines and Marvista in Normandy Park would be finished in September 2009.

The bond would also fund $9 million in technology upgrades.

The district plans to spend another $2 million for additional security surveillance cameras, fencing and lighting at the district's secondary schools.

Camp Waskowitz, the district's outdoor educational facility near North Bend, would receive $3.3 million in renovations.

The district also plans to set aside $9.5 million for roofing and emergency repairs.

District officials estimate taxpayers would pay an additional 10 cents on each $1,000 of assessed home value per year for four years before the bond assessment would lower to about one cent above current levels.

For a $300,000 home, the increase would be $30 per year.

The school-bond tax rate would be $1.83 per $1,000 of assessed value each year for four years before going down to about $1.74.

Homeowners over age 61 with an income less than $35,000 per year and some disabled persons are eligible for an exemption from the tax.

Eric Mathison can be reached at hteditor@robinsonnews.com or 388-1855.