REDMOND – Crooked River Ranch resident Edie Williams plans to vote yes for the $54.52 million Redmond School District bond, and hopes other senior citizens will as well.

But she may be in the minority in rural communities such as Crooked River Ranch, Terrebonne and Alfalfa, all of which overwhelmingly defeated the November 2000 bond.

The pro-bond political action committee, Citizens for Quality Schools, hopes to turn those no votes around this time, and plans to campaign more heavily in the outlying communities.

”In a nutshell, what we are doing differently is that we are embracing them, we are listening to their concerns and we want them to be an active part in our future together,” said Cathy Miller, a co-chair of the pro-bond campaign committee. ”I guess the philosophy is it’s about being one family regardless of where you live, because the schools give back a lot in terms of community service.”

Supporters cannot take rural votes for granted. While the majority of voters, and students, in the school district live in Redmond, the district sprawls over 550 square miles of northern Deschutes County, and Crooked River Ranch in Jefferson County.

The 2000 bond failed by 53 percent to 47 percent overall, but the vote in the rural areas was more lopsided.

According to precinct returns, the ”no” vote was 55.09 percent around Terrebonne, 56.63 percent in Alfalfa and a whopping 63.88 percent in Crooked River Ranch. In Redmond, the bond failed by 52 percent, while it passed in Tumalo with a 52 percent yes vote.

An exit poll taken after the November 2000 bond failed showed that a sizable majority of voters gave the district a favorable performance rating. But the top reasons cited for voting against the bond were ”increased property taxes/taxes too high” and ”cost of the proposed measure too high.”

This fall’s $54.52 million bond measure is slightly higher than the $48.1 million measure that failed in 2000. But because of growth in the tax base, residents would pay a lower tax rate – an estimated $1.35 per $1,000 of assessed value, compared to 1.68 per $1,000 for the previous measure.

Miller said she thought the 2000 bond failed in outlying areas ”because they didn’t feel connected. It wasn’t personal.”

So she said this year’s campaign is reaching out to the Ranch and other outlying areas.

The committee is publishing bond advertisements in the Ranch’s paper. Supporters will send out at least two direct mailings. Campaign representatives plan meetings in the outlying towns, including one at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Terrebonne Boys and Girls Club.

Miller believes that this year’s bond measure has several enticements for outlying voters. It includes a new heating system at Terrebonne Elementary, and plans for a new kindergarten through eighth grade on the north edge of Redmond, which would be used by Terrebonne and Ranch students.

”The students will have to spend less time on the bus,” Miller noted.

Bond campaign co-chairman Alan Unger added that Alfalfa students still have the opportunity to attend rural Tumalo Elementary, which now has seventh grade and may add eighth grade next school year.

Crooked River Ranch has grown quickly over the past decade, and now includes hundreds of year-around residents. Ranch parents have voiced a desire for their own school, in part to shorten the long bus ride.

Cathy Miller explained there’s not a school planned for the Ranch.

”It’s just a cost effectiveness issue,” she said. ”The (student) numbers just aren’t there to support it at this time.”

An expansion of Terrebonne Elementary was ruled out, too, because the school’s septic system is at capacity.

Crooked River Ranch retiree Charlotte Whitehill voted no on the bond in 2000 and plans to vote against it again this time.

”You betcha, because they don’t pay enough attention to what they’re doing. They have too many people doing nothing,” she said of the district.

”They could cut back on their payroll.”

And she thinks they could cut back on some extra-curricular activities and save money.

Supporters say opponents shouldn’t confuse operational money for such things as programs, extra-curricular activities and salaries with bond money, which is strictly for building and remodeling costs.

For Whitehill and other Crooked River Ranch residents, it’s not just a matter of how the district spends its dollars. It’s also a matter of taxes.

”They’re just taxing people to death,” she said. She’s not sure if she can afford the bond.

At Crooked River Ranch, the school request will be on the ballot with a measure to build a new fire hall. Williams, who’s president of the Crooked River Ranch Seniors Group, said many seniors and others are looking at the potential pocketbook crunch if both measures pass.

”They get a little nervous about the cost,” she said. ”And that’s what it comes down to.”

Caryll Rankin, who works as the secretary at the Crooked River Ranch chapel, voted no last time, but said she wants to study this bond more before voting.

”I’m skeptical. I hear a lot of things from people who work in schools and who work in education and they feel that the money is not used effectively,” she said.

”They feel that too much goes toward administration and not enough goes directly down to the children they are trying to educate. I haven’t made up my mind. I want to do some more research and talk with some more people.”

Also undecided is Alfalfa resident Nan Lewis. She and her husband, Henry, have lived in the community for about 25 years, mainly working as farmers.

”Well, you know last time I voted for it and this year I’m sitting on a fence,” Lewis said. In her opinion, it’s not so much because of taxes but because of what she sees as lack of discipline on school buses.

”I understand they need a new high school, have no question that they don’t,” she added.

”I think for many people there’s a fine line there (on how much they can afford in taxes) and they’re getting pretty close to it if they’re not already there,” Lewis said.

Others, like Ranch resident Kathy Cowger, are enthusiastic in their support for the bond.

”I’m hoping that everyone feels the way I do – that we have to have more schools,” Cowger said. ”Just the fact that there’s not enough room for our kids.”

She has a sixth-grade son at Hugh Hartman Middle School, and a second-grade son who attends Terrebonne Elementary.

”Crooked River Ranch is made up of a lot of retired folks and I don’t think they can appreciate how overcrowded the schools are,” Cowger said.