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Clark County, Washington, voters will on Tuesday decide three major school bonds that, if passed, would kick off nearly $1 billion of construction activity.

Evergreen Public Schools is asking voters for a $695 million general obligation bond that would pay for construction of one new elementary school and eight replacement schools as well as safety and security upgrades, roof replacements and heating-and-cooling upgrades throughout the 26,000-student district.

Battle Ground Public Schools has its own package: nearly $224.9 million for construction of a new primary school, a new middle school, four replacement schools, and other renovations and improvements to accommodate growth.

Meanwhile, La Center School District is asking voters for $48 million to build a new middle school, convert an existing middle school into an elementary school and enable the district to buy land.

For Evergreen Public Schools, the first three projects likely would be bid as a package, spokeswoman Gail Spolar said. That includes construction of a new, not-yet-named elementary school on a vacant, district-owned site at Northeast 39th Avenue and 162nd Street, and new school buildings for Image Elementary and Sifton Elementary.

Image Elementary would be rebuilt on a new site near Northeast 52nd Avenue and 131st Street. Sifton Elementary would be rebuilt near the existing school at 7301 N.E. 137th Ave.

Following those projects, new buildings would be constructed for three other elementary schools (Burton, Ellsworth and Marrion), two high schools (Mountain View and Legacy) and Wy’east Middle School. Also, Heritage High School would gain a new wing to replace 39 portable classrooms.

Evergreen is working off of a model elementary school building designed by LSW Architects of Vancouver. A standard floor plan would be adapted to fit each site, Spolar said.

Evergreen’s board in November voted to place the large bond request on the ballot. If successful, the build-out would last only a few years, Spolar said.

鈥淲e want to have all of those projects completed in a six-year time frame,鈥� she said.

Evergreen officials calculate that the bond won’t increase taxes beyond current rates. That’s because of a change in Washington’s state funding model for schools. Property taxes in 2019 would total $6.16 per $1,000 in assessed value, or $1,848 on a $300,000 home, according to school district estimates. That’s down from 2017, when property taxes totaled $6.98 per $1,000, or $2,094 in assessed value.

鈥淔or the average taxpayer, in 2019, when the new bond would kick in, they would actually be paying less in school taxes than they are now,鈥� Spolar said. 鈥淲e’re paying off our old bonds from our 2002 bond measure, and there’s been a change in the state school funding model, so that drops some other local maintenance and operating taxes.鈥�

The Battle Ground bond measure aims to reduce overcrowding and improve infrastructure and safety. A new primary and middle school campus would be built. Glenwood Heights Primary, Laurin Middle and both Pleasant Valley Primary and Middle schools would be replaced.

Battle Ground is growing as homebuilders push northward from the Vancouver area, district spokeswoman Rita Sanders said.

鈥淲e are the next place to build houses,鈥� she said.

An outside consultant forecast enrollment in the district will increase by 1,535 to 2,740 students in the next 10 years. The district enrolled 13,153 students in October.

Much of the growth is happening in the district’s southern portion, which has the oldest schools, Sanders said. Glenwood Heights was built for 484 students but currently has more than 800, many of whom are placed in modular classrooms.

The bond measures must be approved by a 60 percent supermajority to take effect. For each school district, the bonds would need to be repaid within 21 years. Washington voters, unlike their Oregon counterparts, have until Election Day to postmark their ballots.