Florence voters to decide $139 million bond for new Siuslaw High School

Florence voters will decide whether a $139 million bond is worth the cost of rebuilding the community’s main high school and upgrading the district’s elementary campus. Measure 20-379 would add an estimated $2.75 per $1,000 of assessed value for 30 years, or about $688 a year on a home assessed at $250,000, making it the most expensive school bond on the Lane County ballot.

The measure goes before voters on the May 19, 2026, ballot in both Lane and Douglas counties, after the Siuslaw School Board approved the bond language on Feb. 11. If it passes, Siuslaw School District No. 97J says it would unlock a $6,126,000 state matching grant through the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program, bringing the total project to roughly $145 million.

The district says the money would pay for a new Siuslaw High School on land behind the current middle school, along with traffic-safety improvements and a citizen oversight committee. The present high school at 2975 Oak Street dates to 1970, and bond materials say it still does not have an auditorium or cafeteria, two features many modern campuses treat as basic.

The proposal also reaches down the campus ladder. Siuslaw Elementary School would get classroom and security upgrades, and the district says kindergarten now meets in modular buildings. That detail has become one of the clearest arguments from supporters that the bond is about day-to-day function, not just appearance: the district is asking families to pay more now so students can learn in permanent classrooms later.

The Oregon Department of Education says OSCIM grants are matching awards for districts that pass local general obligation bonds, with commitments made before the election. In Florence, that state money would only become available if voters approve the local bond first.

Siuslaw School District served 1,180 students in 2024-25, a relatively small enrollment for a project of this size. That scale is at the heart of the debate now facing Florence taxpayers: whether aging, 55-plus-year-old facilities, unsecured entrances and long-term capacity needs justify the county’s priciest measure, or whether the tax bill is simply too steep for the repair job voters are being asked to finance.