Case Study: Spokane Public Schools achieves $145M bond and 68.9% approval with ThoughtExchange

Thoughtexchange’s cohort visualization feature shows the community’s priorities and how opinions can change

Spokane Public Schools, the largest district in eastern Washington, needed a way to hear the broader community’s priorities before putting a $145 million bond to voters. Face‑to‑face meetings weren’t capturing the full picture, so the district sought an authentic, large‑scale engagement method to surface what mattered most to stakeholders.

Using Thoughtexchange’s email platform and cohort visualization, 3,500 participants posted 7,800 thoughts and assigned 137,000 stars, giving every voice equal weight and allowing opinions to change as people read others’ ideas. The process revealed unexpected priorities (elementary upgrades over Albi Stadium), shifted undecided voters strongly against the stadium, and helped the bond pass with a 68.9% majority—the highest approval rate the district has achieved.

Spokane Public Schools

Greg Brown

Director Of Capital Projects