McPherson People: The Bond Whisperer
Perry McCabe retired three times, but when USD 418 needed a bond passed after three straight defeats, he had done this before
MCPHERSON, Kan. — On March 3, 2026, McPherson voters approved an $89.5 million, two-question bond issue to build a new academic wing at McPherson High School and convert Eisenhower Elementary into a middle school. It passed on the district's fourth attempt, with both questions drawing more than 60% support, ending a stretch of failed elections that had divided the community for years.
For most of McPherson, it was a fresh start. For board member Perry McCabe, it was familiar ground. He had spent 50 years in Kansas schools — as a teacher, coach, principal, assistant superintendent and business manager — and he had already shepherded one district through a bond that voters kept rejecting. When he ran for a full term on the McPherson Board of Education last November, he did it for one reason.
"One of the reasons I ran for the second term was because we hadn't accomplished what I ran for the first term on," McCabe said. "And that was to see that a bond issue got passed, because I knew the needs of the community and the schools."