Superintendent Message – Preliminary Election Results

Dear Puyallup School District Community,

On behalf of the Puyallup School District, I want to thank the thousands of voters who supported Proposition 1 in our recent April 22 and February 11 special elections. The results reflect strong community backing.

However, despite our strong showing, the bond measure is not currently passing. As of 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, April 23, there are 14,735 “yes” votes (60.9%) and 9,468 “no” votes (39.1%). This means the school bond has reached the 60% supermajority requirement, but the bond is still 4,013 total votes short of the 28,216 turnout threshold needed to pass.

Planning for the Future

With this measure not passing for the second time this year, we are unable to run it again in 2025. In the meantime, the School Board has tasked the School Capacity and Utilization Task Force (SCUT) with reviewing the potential impact of school closures at Spinning and Waller Road Elementary Schools. If the cost to repair and maintain these buildings exceeds available funding or fails to meet safety standards, closures may be necessary—similar to the 2023 decision to close the Puyallup High School library science building due to high repair costs. In that case, we opted for portable classrooms as a more cost-effective and safe solution.

While this outcome is not what we had hoped for, we remain committed to our responsibility: providing safe, modern, and supportive learning environments for our students and staff. We will continue to evaluate our facility needs and determine the best path forward before bringing another measure to voters.

Thank you again for your continued support of our schools and our mission to serve every student, every day.

In Service,

Dr. John Polm
Superintendent 
Puyallup School District