Pleasanton Unified School District's Measure I, a $395 million general obligation bond to fund facilities improvements, picked up a few more votes toward approval but still remained roughly 1.75% short of passing, according to the election results update issued Thursday.

Measure I, one of the most significant items on the ballot concerning PUSD, currently stands at 53.22% of residents voting Yes and 46.78% voting No, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters' Office. The bond would need better than 55% of the vote to pass.

Thursday's update is a slight increase for the Yes side compared to Election Night's numbers, which had the bond at 52.79% Yes and 47.21% No. The current count of 6,788 Yes votes and 5,966 No votes still represents a low turnout in a city with 46,936 registered voters, according to county election data online.

The tally reported so far, which represents 22.13% voter turnout countywide, includes vote-by-mail ballots received before Election Day and votes cast in-person. County election officials said Thursday that they still have 182,120 ballots left to process, consisting of eligible vote-by-mail, conditional and provisional ones. It is unclear how many outstanding ballots come from voters within PUSD's boundaries.

Kathleen Ruegsegger, a strong advocate against the bond, told the Weekly that while the current numbers show the bond not passing, it is still too early for the No side to declare the win.

"The bond has been an important question for the Pleasanton community," Ruegsegger said. "I feel the numbers are too close to call, so I cannot declare a win. We will not see the next set until Monday evening. Those numbers could be the ones that keep us at the same percentages or it could be the numbers that will push the yes side to a victory."

She said that while it is difficult to wait, that is all voters can do until the election results are officially certified on Dec. 8.

"In the meantime, I want to thank all the voters, both Yes and No," Ruegsegger said.

Bill Butler, a pro advocate for the bond and co-chair of the Yes on I campaign group, told the Weekly that he and his group will also continue to closely monitor the tight race.

"My co-chair, Todd Utikal, and I are very proud of the efforts around informing Pleasanton voters on the need for Measure I. We are especially thankful for the volunteers to our campaign and the new friends made and people we met along the way," Butler said. "As parents of kids in the district and volunteers in this community, we personally know of the need to improve our school infrastructure and facilities and it was an honor for us to align ourselves with our teachers and students. We hope the voters in this community felt the same way."

If passed, the bond would help fund the first tier phase of PUSD Facilities Master Plan, which was approved by the school board in June, by utilizing a tax rate of $49 per $100,000 of assessed value for Pleasanton properties to fund that first tier round of projects.

Tier 1 will prioritize funding for the gym and theater constructions at both Amador Valley and Foothill high schools as well as new classrooms at Vintage Hills Elementary. The second tier will focus on deferred maintenance, restructuring of the visual performing arts in high schools, cafeteria and air conditioning and heating equipment.

If somehow the script flips in the results over the ensuing days and Measure I gets above the 55% approval rate, it would be the second bond adopted by Pleasanton voters in 25 years along with the $270 million Measure I1 that passed in November 2016. PUSD did try to pass the $323 million Measure M in March 2020 but ultimately failed.

The next results update from Alameda County election officials is expected to arrive late Monday afternoon.