3 Months, 80% Approval: How Broken Arrow Passed a $52M Bond Fast
Since its establishment in 1904, Oklahoma’s Broken Arrow Public Schools has become a dynamic leader in public education. Located in a thriving urban-suburban community, the district serves more than 20,000 students, from Pre-K to high school and specialized academies.
When newly-appointed Chief Communications Officer Tara Thompson was tasked with passing a critical but complex infrastructure bond within a tight three-month timeline, she worked with the district to act strategically.
Using ThoughtExchange to engage their community during the campaign, the district successfully passed the $52 million infrastructure bond with an 80% approval rate—”Huge in our very conservative state,” Thompson exclaimed.
Tight timelines—complex proposal
Just a few months into her tenure at Broken Arrow, Thompson learned there would be a critical bond election in October, with the vote slated for the following January. Typically, a bond campaign requires a minimum of six months for planning and communication, including an initial community survey to gauge needs and willingness to vote.
With no time for traditional upfront surveying, the district risked launching a complex, four-question bond proposal without clearly understanding the community’s sentiment— jeopardizing the funding needed for essential projects.
ThoughtExchange builds trust and transparency
Facing prohibitive time constraints, Broken Arrow needed a fast, effective way to engage the community, gather critical input, and build trust in the district’s bond proposal.
They immediately integrated the ThoughtExchange AI-powered engagement platform into their communication tactics. The platform enabled them to hear directly from a wide range of their community, fostering transparency and engagement throughout the campaign. This ensured that the public understood the proposal’s complexities and built support to pass the bond.
Broken Arrow’s Exchanges facilitated an ongoing community conversation to "fill in the gaps" of missing upfront survey data and break down the four separate bond questions. This way, Broken Arrow had a clear look at what voters were still unsure about—what was misunderstood, what questions they hadn’t answered, and where the message was falling short.
Thompson said, “ThoughtExchange is a great tool for any school district thinking about running a bond referendum or if they're in the middle of a bond issue. The way we used it was to identify gaps in the information that we've been sending out to our voters. And that gave us a really accurate picture of what their knowledge gaps were.”
Bond initiative drives positive results
The quick and effective community engagement, driven by ThoughtExchange, led to overwhelming success at the ballot box. The district passed the $52 million infrastructure bond with an 80% approval rate. Thompson credits ThoughtExchange for helping the district engage its community, remain transparent, and get the necessary votes.
She explained, “I had three months to put together a bond campaign. ThoughtExchange gave us the opportunity to have an ongoing conversation with our community during the campaign. We got the data that we needed, and we passed the bond issue with an 80% approval rate, which is huge in our very conservative state.”
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Key takeaways for districts
The Broken Arrow story offers a powerful playbook for any district facing tight timelines, complex decisions, or the need to engage the community for funding.
- Use Exchanges for a quick pulse check: When pressed for time, use ThoughtExchange for ongoing, two-way conversation during a campaign. This quickly fills knowledge gaps and builds trust.
- Translate complexity into clarity: For bond issues with multiple questions or complicated funding structures, use ThoughtExchange to clarify for the voting public. Exchanges enable the community to share their questions, allowing the district to address them.
- Prioritize transparency: With short timelines, transparency is paramount. Use an Exchange to host the dialogue. This demonstrates the district’s commitment and helps build trust and generate approval.
- Embrace collaborative leadership instead of event-based engagement: Use Exchanges as part of a recurring dialogue. Starting from existing conversation ensures the district isn't starting from scratch when a major decision or crisis arises.
2. Mitigating bias and building trust: Nolin presented her entry plan in two parts, highlighting ThoughtExchange’s AI-generated themes with her own analysis. This transparent approach helped mitigate concerns about individual bias while demonstrating a commitment to the community's voice.
“ThoughtExchange allows me to focus on the public, rather than the extreme amount of time it used to take me to tabulate survey results and then theme the data. ThoughtExchange has always been on the leading edge of making that process just instantaneous and so helpful—so I can focus on the in-person part of my job.”
From engagement to approval with ThoughtExchange
Broken Arrow Public Schools’ experience shows that a tight timeline doesn't have to mean sacrificing community engagement or transparency. By strategically using ThoughtExchange, Thompson transformed a daunting three-month sprint into a powerful, two-way dialogue.
The district was able to quickly identify and close crucial communication gaps, build essential trust, and clarify a complex proposal for their voters. The result speaks for itself: a $52 million infrastructure bond passed with an overwhelming 80% approval rate.
For any district facing high-stakes decisions or critical funding deadlines, the Broken Arrow story is a testament to the power of continuous, transparent, and technology-driven community engagement to achieve exceptional results.
2. Mitigating bias and building trust: Nolin presented her entry plan in two parts, highlighting ThoughtExchange’s AI-generated themes with her own analysis. This transparent approach helped mitigate concerns about individual bias while demonstrating a commitment to the community's voice.
“ThoughtExchange allows me to focus on the public, rather than the extreme amount of time it used to take me to tabulate survey results and then theme the data. ThoughtExchange has always been on the leading edge of making that process just instantaneous and so helpful—so I can focus on the in-person part of my job.”