Voters in Bethel and Royalton shot down a proposed school upgrades bond for the third time Tuesday.
The $3.8 million bond would鈥檝e upgraded security infrastructure at school entrances in Bethel and South Royalton, and also would have expanded the high school鈥檚 shop and performing arts spaces to accommodate more students. The bond would have covered a little over half of the $6.17 million project costs, with the remaining funds coming from donations, grants, savings and a capital fund.
Now, the White River Valley Supervisory Union will have to find other ways to cover some of the more pressing items on the list, like a state-required water abatement project.
鈥淪ome of the projects are going to have to happen,鈥� said Nancy Pejouhy, chair of the White River Unified District board. 鈥淲e do have money in a capital fund that we can use towards parts of the project 鈥� not enough to do the performing arts practice space, I don't think, but other parts of the project we will go ahead with.鈥�
WRVSU Superintendent Jamie Kinnarney said the district does have $2 million in capital reserves that it can use. But he said the district will have to reimburse the money it fundraised and is no longer eligible for a grant it was planning to use to cover parts of the project.
He said a facilities task force will meet soon to start parsing its funding priorities.
More from 开云体育: Vermont has paused PCB testing in schools, but cleanup costs keep piling up
Tuesday鈥檚 election was the third time a version of the school bond came before voters. Last November, voters rejected a bond by just 10 votes. A slimmer version of the bond was on the ballot at town meeting day in March and lost by 20 votes.
The latest vote was a 鈥渞econsideration鈥� of that same bond, after voters petitioned the March results. This time, the bond lost by an even larger margin 鈥� just under 100 votes 鈥� 446 yes to 540 no, according to superintendent Kinnarney.
Pejouhy, the board chair, said it was a shock that so many people voted against it 鈥� 鈥渁nd by that wide a margin,鈥� she said. She said information sessions on the upgrades in Bethel and Royalton were not well-attended. The bond would鈥檝e added less than $50 to the tax bill for a home appraised at $200,000, according to information provided by the supervisory union.
A large number of school bond votes have failed at the ballot box in recent years, though a handful have been approved, particularly in Chittenden County.
This was the last time the district could put the bond on the ballot until at least November, since it鈥檚 already put it up twice, plus a reconsideration, this calendar year. As for whether the district will put it on the ballot after that 鈥� Kinnarney said the will of the voters is clear.
鈥淐learly, our constituents have spoken that they鈥檙e really concerned about any increase in tax,鈥� Kinnarney said.
