A 2019 bond funded the replacement of Brookwood Elementary School. | Photo Credit: Hillsboro School District
HILLSBORO, Ore. — At its regular session meeting on Tuesday, May 26, Hillsboro School Board members voted unanimously to place the Hillsboro School District’s (HSD) $430 capital construction bond on the November 2026 ballot.
The approved bond program contains projects for every school and district building across six broad project areas: buildings and systems, safety and security, Career and College Pathways, Extracurriculars, technology and cybersecurity, and support services.
If successful in November, the bond would allow HSD to address aging infrastructure like roofs and HVAC systems, modernize educational settings that engage and prepare students, improve and expand extracurricular spaces like lighted turf fields for year-round student and community use, and enhance safety and security districtwide, among many other priorities.
Capital construction bonds like this one are the only mechanism school districts have for making significant investments in systems and structures. The State School Fund dollars allocated to districts each year are really only meant to fund daily operations (primarily staff-related costs) and incidental maintenance and repairs.
By the fall of 2026, taxpayers will have paid off some of HSD’s previous bonds. This creates an opportunity to fill in the gap with a new bond to generate capital investment money for district projects, while keeping the current tax rate consistent. HSD estimates a repayment rate of approximately $1.84 per $1000 of assessed property value, which is 18 cents per thousand less than the average of rates paid since the passage of the district’s previous bond in 2017.
Wherever possible, the district will seek opportunities to leverage partnerships, incentives, and grants to maximize our bond dollars and make them go further, highlighting HSD’s commitment to good stewardship of the community’s investment.
In a 2019 bond, the district invested heavily in safety and security upgrades at all schools, including Seismic and roofing upgrades, Playground upgrades and Parent/bus drop-off improvements. The bond also supported extensive renovation and repair efforts at the district’s aging schools, focused on HVAC, plumbing and electrical upgrades; remodeling projects; and the replacement of 15 temporary portable classrooms. Efforts to relieve crowded classrooms and plan for growth included the construction of separate gymnasiums at elementary schools that currently share gym and cafeteria space as well as the expansion of Evergreen Middle School and Glencoe High School and the construction of one new elementary school in North Plains, one new elementary school in South Hillsboro, and replacement of Brookwood Elementary School. The bond also extended to new technology, flexible classroom furniture and the expansion of career and technical education spaces at all district high schools.
The district has implemented an interactive dashboard of all proposed projects.