Dallas school supporters, still breathing a collective sigh of relief that voters approved a $1.35 billion bond program last weekend, say this election may signal a changing political landscape for DISD.

On Saturday, 54 percent of voters supported the bond program. That was down significantly from 2002, when 78 percent supported a similar-size measure. And the margin of support this time around was virtually identical on both sides of the Trinity River, according to an analysis by The Dallas Morning News.

The lack of geographic polarization may blow a hole in the conventional wisdom that white North Dallas voters will always vote "yes" on bond measures. While voter turnout in North Dallas continued to be higher than elsewhere, voters there didn't back this year's bond program by any greater margin than the rest of the city.

That erosion among traditional bond supporters could prove instructive the next time DISD asks voters for money. School officials have said they expect the 2008 bond program to be complete in five years, when they anticipate asking voters for another sizeable bond.

"In the past, North Dallas carried the day," trustee Edwin Flores said this week. "This time, it was all over the place, which I think is good."

Voter turnout also undoubtedly influenced this year's election. Only 5 percent of North Dallas voters went to the polls, and only 3 percent voted in the southern half of the city. Overall, fewer than 20,000 people cast ballots. The bond passed by 1,485 votes.

"It's a vote of approval," trustee Ron Price said Saturday evening. "It's not a vote of confidence."

School trustees knew support for a new bond program was thin in February, when they voted unanimously to put the measure on the ballot. Initially, the Future Facilities Task Force, which developed the plan for trustees, had four scenarios in mind, with price tags ranging from $1.32 billion to $2.65 billion.

But school officials said a private poll showed that voters would reject all but the smallest bond package. Even the cheapest scenario this year was not expected to garner the same level of support as in 2002, when three out of four voters approved the bond.

"This was remarkably close to the pre-election polling," said Dan Weiser, trustee Adam Medrano's appointee to the Future Facilities Task Force.

Mr. Weiser, a demographer, said his analysis showed that the measure won support from a majority of Hispanic, black and white voters. By his count, 66 percent of Hispanic voters supported it, compared with 54 percent of blacks and 52 percent of whites.

Observers said it was difficult to draw too many conclusions about who voted against the plan and why they didn't support it. There was no organized opposition, but a number of supporters from 2002 stayed on the sidelines this year.

Among them was a local teachers' union whose president said this week that she's happy with the election outcome but hopes district officials take note of the erosion in public support.

"I do not view 54 percent as being any sort of overwhelming mandate at all," said Aimee Bolender, president of Alliance/AFT. "In my opinion, when it comes to a bond election, that's sort of winning by the skin of your teeth."

Union members endorsed the 2002 bond plan, and many of them actively campaigned for it. This year, a poll found that members were divided, and no endorsement was made.

Ms. Bolender said members were concerned about the school district's finances, as well as teacher firings.

Questions about whether DISD could account for its spending dogged most school trustees as they campaigned for the bond program at town hall meetings in April and early May.

An outside audit, which was due in December, became a flashpoint for some voters. School officials had hoped it would be complete before election day. It still isn't finished, and auditors with Deloitte & Touche have said they can't do their job until DISD produces all the documents it has sought.

Trustee Nancy Bingham's southeast Dallas district stood to gain a number of the new schools funded by the new bond package, but many precincts in her district rejected the proposal.

Ms. Bingham said many of her constituents have modest incomes and are skittish about pocketbook issues in general.

"None of us anticipated that the audit would not be in," she said. "It just threw everyone for a loop. I think the public was justified in having some concerns."

A preliminary report from Deloitte & Touche said that DISD staff was often inadequately trained and that top officials failed to provide proper oversight of financial transactions. During the bond campaign, supporters said DISD is in the midst of a transformation and that it has already adopted tougher policies and procedures.

The district's ethics policy also was a stumbling block for some. The policy allows DISD to award lucrative contracts to businesses that have financial ties to trustees and their relatives. The matter came under scrutiny after a report in The Dallas Morning News found that businesses with ties to a number of DISD leaders, including school board president Jack Lowe, have gotten contracts worth millions of dollars from the district.

Staff writers Jennifer LaFleur and Kent Fischer contributed to this report.