With one week to go until the Nov. 3 referendum on the Duchesne County School District's $49 million bond-issue proposal, supporters are shifting into high gear to win over undecided voters and convert those who have expressed concerns about the plan.

The school district is mailing full-color information pamphlets to all registered voters in the county. Many of the brochures have already turned up at the windows and check-out counters of local businesses.

The Uintah Basin Standard received more than a dozen letters to the editor on the topic last week, many of which expressed dismay over an Oct. 20 story that sought to give people with dissenting opinions a chance to offer their arguments. A few supporters of the district's plan felt compelled to drop by the newspaper's offices in Roosevelt to personally express their feelings on the issue, which has stirred passions from Roosevelt to Duchesne and all points between.

Schools Superintendent John Aland said there will be no more public hearings on the topic before the Nov. 3 election.

“As a district, we present the facts,” he said. “We ask the people to study the issues and vote their conscience.”

School Board member Gordon Moon, who lives in Duchesne, said he knows there are voters with mixed feelings on the matter.

“We understand it's a large amount,” Moon said. “But we have some older schools in the county, and we have had growth and higher birth rates, and it's time to start looking ahead.”

If the district's plan passes voter muster, the $49 million raised through a bond issue would be combined with another $20 million for an overall $69 million building plan. A new campus for Union High would cost $40 million, while Altamont would get a new $18 million building. A second elementary school in Roosevelt to complement East Elementary would carry a price tag of $11 million.

School district officials say the elementary school will be built regardless of whether the bond-issue proposal passes. The district has already saved $8 million toward that project.

Over the last two months, officials have sought to convince the public of the need for the new high school buildings, conducting power-point presentations that depict outdated facilities, including cramped spaces and crumbling physical structures.

In Altamont, a community with apparent widespread support for the bond issue, parents and teachers planned massive get-out-the-vote efforts to try to win support for their cause. Generally it is held that most Altamont-area voters favor the proposal, while voters in the Duchesne area are more skeptical. Roosevelt, which stands to gain two new schools from the plan, could swing either way.

“Duchesne County taxpayers in the past have supported our smaller schools,” Moon said.”If we don't come together and support each other now, we're not going to be able to support our kids later.”

Debt service on the bond issue would be covered by a property tax increase of about $65 annually on the average county residence valued at $113,217.

The school district's plan has been endorsed by the Utah Taxpayers Association, the Salt Lake Tribute and the Uintah Basin Standard (see editorial, page 2-A).

On election day, Duchesne County polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Polling places include the Altamont Fire Station, Duchesne City Hall, Fruitland Fire Station, Myton City Hall, Neola Fire Station, Crossroads Senior Center in Roosevelt and Tabiona Town Hall.

Because of municipal elections across the county, voter turnout is expected to be higher than average.