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More than 30 years ago, when I was the city editor for my hometown newspaper, our local board of education sought a massive bond referendum to replace several of its outdated, crumbling schools.

The need for the bond in my Texas Gulf Coast town was obvious, even though the community was initially resistant to a tax increase, in part due to the struggles of the petrochemical industry that fueled our local economy. My supervisor and the newspaper’s publisher gave me an assignment: Explain to readers why this is important, and why the referendum should (or should not) pass.

That led to an immersive dive into the buildings in our school district, which then fed a series of questions about why communities allow their facilities to deteriorate over the years. I still ask these questions today, having observed and lived through a number of capital projects that have made a difference in the quality of education and in the lives of students.

In my hometown, most of the facilities had been built during the early days of the baby boom, a period of massive school construction across the U.S. The facilities were built as inexpensively as possible, with flat roofs, narrow hallways, and cinderblock walls. In an era when school safety was not a concern, most of the classrooms opened to the outside.

Does this sound familiar? Chances are it does.

According to a survey published in February by the National Center for Education Statistics, a research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, almost half of our nation’s schools are more than 50 years old. Of that number, 26% of those still in use today were built for those same baby boomers; an additional 12% were built before 1950 — 75 or more years ago.

For this issue of ASBJ, I wrote a feature that focuses on efforts to rebuild and renovate Maryland’s Baltimore City Schools. I also spoke with administrators and communications staff in other school districts about their successful bond efforts and gleaned some “what works/what doesn’t” advice to pass along to you.

Community engagement — not just around the bond, but at all times — is critical to establishing the trust you will need to garner support at the polls. Equally important is knowing your “why” and being able to explain it clearly, succinctly, and transparently to taxpayers. Highlight how updated facilities will provide for your students and the community as a whole with improved and enhanced learning environments and increased property values.

“Something my superintendent and I are completely aligned on is we are very, very factual,” says Vicki Alonzo, executive director of communications for Auburn Public Schools, a district in Washington state that rebuilt six schools and added two new campuses after a successful bond referendum. “We tell people, ‘Yes, your tax rate may go up,’ and we explain how and what we will do to mitigate that. We don’t sugarcoat anything.”

Consider developing an ad-hoc committee representative of all your audiences (parents, nonparents, senior citizens, nonprofit and for-profit businesses, higher education leaders, the medical community, and public safety officials). Listen to these people and take their advice.

As one superintendent told me: “If you only go to the community with your hand out when you need something, chances are it will get slapped. You have to engage and be transparent with your community on an ongoing basis to build trust. That’s especially true in politically stratified times like these, when distrust of institutions is at an all-time high.”

You should continue to hold open community forums to answer questions, even if you know that you won’t draw large crowds. If you still have a local newspaper, radio, or TV station that serves your constituents, consider placing informational ads with these traditional media outlets in addition to social media. Remember: Traditional media may be on the decline in many communities, but it is still read by older adults who do not have school-age children. Older adults typically go to the polls in higher percentages than parents and younger adults.

Clear messaging is crucial. It is better to provide too much information than too little, especially with messages that are conveyed in plain language so all your audiences can understand them. And it’s easy for us to overestimate the public’s knowledge of how the complicated maze of school finance works. For example, surveys have repeatedly shown that many residents don’t understand bond funds earmarked for facilities can’t be used for other proposes, such as to pay teachers.

Shy of some sort of legislative miracle, the burden for funding school facilities will continue to fall on local districts for the foreseeable future. But the “woe is me” story can get old fast, especially in communities dealing with other pressing needs or priorities.

In the end, storytelling — visual or in written form — can be what wins the day. And it doesn’t have to be complicated. The bond referendum in my hometown passed with 60% of the vote. Afterward, the district conducted a survey asking people what made them ultimately cast their ballot in favor of the referendum.

The number one reason: a photograph that our newspaper published of an elementary principal sticking his finger through a disintegrating blackboard. Finally, people could see what teachers were dealing with and the environments students were learning in. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Glenn Cook (glenncook117@gmail.com), a contributing editor to American School Board Journal, is a freelance writer and photographer in Northern Virginia. He also spent five years as a communications director for a North Carolina school district.