Voters in the Piper USD 203 school district rejected a $32.5 million bond issue and corresponding mill rate increase that would have paid for another round of expansion and improvement in the district’s facilities. For a $300,000 house, the increase would have been approximately $83 per year.

The 63.4 percent of voters declining the proposal was a major turnaround from the 2022 election, when 61.9 percent of district voters supported a $64 million bond issue for the new Piper High School campus, early childhood center, and elementary and middle school improvements.

The rejected 2025 proposal was to complete construction of an athletic complex with new and separate football, track, and soccer stadiums, plus a multi-purpose fieldhouse. It would also have paid for upgrading the district’s technology infrastructure and administrative offices and for acquiring land for future expansion.

The Piper district has seen its student population increase significantly in the last several years — from 1,681 in 2010-11, to 2,276 in 2016-17, to 2,831 in the 2024-25 school year. The district considers itself at capacity at all campuses, and does not accept incoming transfers.