BURIEN, Wash — Voters have one day left to decide whether to give a Puget Sound school district hundreds of millions of dollars.
Highline School District officials say they need the bond for massive repairs.
There are people on both sides of the issue. There is a "please vote" message on the sign at Highline High School, but just a few blocks away there are "vote no" signs.
Recently, the dean of students at the school took KIRO 7 reporter Joanna Small inside a building where garbage cans were catching water dripping from a leaky ceiling.
Students say they were sickened from mold.
Three girls were trapped in the bathroom when the lock stuck and the door had to be removed to get them out.
The athletic director says it will take a $376 million bond to repair that building and others across the district.
"Basically, the school is falling down around us. It's old, it was built in the 1920s and we need to rebuild it,” said Highline athletic director Lori Box.
School officials say without the bond, middle school students may have to start attending classes in shifts, some in the morning and others in the afternoon and evenings.
Most people agree the schools' conditions are a problem, but some say the bond is just too much. The district asked for $385 million for the same issue that failed on the fall ballot.
If the bond passes, it will cost $4.22 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That would add about $220 in additional property taxes for someone with a $200,000 home.