The Bend-La Pine Schools levy, which would have given the district millions of dollars in funding, appears to have failed, based on preliminary election results from Tuesday’s primary. The measure was failing late Tuesday with 58.9% of voters rejecting it.

“Naturally, we’re disappointed in the outcome of this vote, but the message here is clear: Our community is not interested in adding a school levy at this time,” Superintendent Steven Cook told the Bulletin. “We respect the will of the voters, and we will continue to focus on serving students within our current funding level. This may include difficult but necessary budget reductions over the next two years, including eliminating positions and reducing expenditures.”

The levy would have raised $21 million in the first year for the district and would have been used to hire and retain staff, expand career and technical education and advanced academic offerings and hire counselors and educational assistants for student support. It proposed a tax of $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value for five years.

Read more: See complete local election results at bendbulletin.com/elections

The district said it needed the levy because it is about to run out of federal funding it received during the pandemic. Those federal relief funds, given out in three batches, are ending in September. The district received nearly $30 million, which was used for HVAC systems, technology and pandemic response material. Many districts, like Bend-La Pine, are scrambling due to lack of additional funding.

Bend-La Pine Schools plans to cut 58 positions next school year through retirements and resignations. For the 2025-26 school year, provided no additional funding comes in, the district plans to cut 120 positions.

The district hasn’t put a levy on the ballot in several years, but put up an infrastructure bond measure in 2022, which passed.