Background

This large district includes 16 high schools across the Santa Clarita Valley in northern LA County. Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 50%-30% margin of voter registration. Despite the community’s longtime support for its local schools, it was very difficult to pass bonds in the past. Since the first school bond passed in 2001, the local newspapers highlighted some of the district’s struggles managing costs.

The district, with all of these challenges in mind, also faced public opposition from some members of its own Bond Oversight Committee, as well as from some local elected officials serving on the community college or elementary school district boards.

Hart Union High School District officials contacted TBWB in late 2007 as they anticipated a need for a second bond measure.

What We Did

TBWB helped local leaders combat opposition efforts by re-framing the accomplishments of the prior bond measure to allow campaign volunteers to win critical endorsements. We created effective direct mail to describe the bond measure in the district’s terms, instead of the opposition’s. We assisted and advised the superintendent and trustees as they navigated complex local politics. District officials also were able to secure land for a long-awaited new high school that helped quiet opposition from one corner of the district.