Voters reject measures in Central Springs special election
[anvplayer video=”5192106″ station=”998128″]
(ABC 6 News) – Nine votes, that’s how many Central Springs schools were short in the special election Tuesday. And now, the school district says it’s back to the drawing board.
“You know full course we are probably disappointed with the result along that line,” said Superintendent Darwin Lehmann.
People in the Central Springs School District hit the polls Tuesday to vote on the physical plant and equipment levy. The money would’ve paid for improvements to school safety, update and expand CTE labs, replace playgrounds and more.
“We had some specific projects that we would’ve like to use our money for and then deal with the deferred maintenance that we have in our district with the significant increase in construction cost that we are seeing here in the last couple of years,” said Lehmann.
Only 723 votes were cast on a levy of $1.34 for every 1,000 dollars of taxable property. So, for example, if you owned a $200,000 house, that would mean a tax increase of $268.
Nine votes, that's how many Central Springs schools were short in the special election Tuesday. And now, the school district says it's back to the drawing board.
Results:
Yes – 357
No – 366
The measure failed to pass by only nine votes.
“That’s a lot of money. I mean it may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but when you’re living paycheck to paycheck that’s more money out of your pocket,” said Manly resident Joshua Lunn who voted no.
Lunn says he hasn’t been happy with how the school district has spent their money in the past. “Our sign saying welcome to Central Springs High School. We do not need that LED screen there. That was a giant waste of money,” But he thinks Central Springs is still a good school district and hopes the improvements the leadership wants to make can be done with money they already have.
Now that the levy didn’t pass, school leaders say its back to the drawing board. “The opportunity for us is to go back as a board and an administrative team and reevaluate,” said Lehmann.
A motto for the school district that is even posted above the windows outside the high school is ‘where students matter most.’ And Lehmann said that’s not going to change and they are still going to strive to give their students a quality education.