Bonds petition lacks enough signatures

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Supporters of a statewide petition drive to allow school districts to enact bond issues by a simple majority vote did not gather enough signatures to make the November ballot.

"We collected just over half of the signatures that we needed," said Brent Ghan of the Missouri School Boards Association.

The deadline to turn in about 120,000 signatures was Saturday.

"We were dependent on volunteers to gather signatures," Ghan said. "We simply were not able to raise the kind of money needed to pay to gather signatures, though we were told the most successful campaigns do use paid signature gatherers."

Supporters of the change would have to wait until 2004 to conduct another petition drive.

In Missouri, bond issues typically pay for school renovations, construction and technology upgrades. Under current law, it takes a four-sevenths majority to approve bond issues at elections in April, August and November. Otherwise, it takes a two-thirds majority.

PTAs and other school supporters decided to collect signatures to change the state constitution after they failed to convince Missouri legislators to put the issue to voters. Now, Ghan said, supporters may again turn to state lawmakers.

"Our preference would be if the General Assembly would put this on the ballot. With term limits coming, we might have a more favorable assembly than in the past," Ghan said.

Backers say support was weak in rural areas, where enrollment is not growing and construction needs are minimal. In addition, some larger districts can muster the required "supermajority" of voters because they can offer bond issues that do not require a tax increase.

The districts that are squeezed the most tend to be smaller and fast-growing.

A 2001 survey by the Missouri School Boards Association found that about 120 bond issues had failed in the previous five years even though they had received a majority of votes.

That was the case in the Cassville school district in April, when a $7 million proposal to build a new elementary school failed, though 53 percent of voters supported it.

"It makes it difficult for school districts to pass a bond issue, and the students are the ones suffering," Cassville Superintendent Jim Orrell said. "It's singling out some voters and saying, 'Your yes vote doesn't count as much as a no vote."'