The Lake Washington School District bond of $398 million to reduce overcrowding and enhance aging facilities is passing with 65.4 percent of the vote, according to the first vote totals released by King County Elections on Tuesday.

The bond has gathered 22,223 votes in support, and 11,758 votes against. More votes are to be counted and those additional totals will be released in the days ahead.

The bond will, among other large projects, rebuild Juanita High School in Kirkland, build two new elementary schools and a new middle school in Redmond.

LWSD Communications Director Kathryn Reith, who celebrated the results with parents, staff members and a handful of students at the Lake Washington Education Association building in Kirkland, said the passing was a mixture of things— relief, excitement and gratitude.

“We were hopeful, and there was certainly tremendous community support and community input throughout the process,” Reith said. “The Citizens Levy Committe campaign was phenomenal.”

A somewhat similar bond was put to vote in 2014, but was defeated with 58 percent — two percent short of the passing requirement. The district spent a year studying options for trimming down the 2016 bond.

“I think there was a lot of time spent listening to the community, developing projects and understanding what our community wanted from school buildings,” Reith said. “We were listening to people all over the district, and that had a lot to do with how projects were determined.”

Martha Deamicis, part of the Citizens Levy Committee and the mother of two young children, said the district’s significant overcrowding was what pushed her into action.

“We saw what was happening, and knew we could turn the tide,” she said. “This bond is a phenomenal step for our kids, our community and is building schools we have needed for a long time. We’re proud of our accomplishment.”