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Voters say 'no' to Fremont bond
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ST. ANTHONY - Voters defeated a $600,000 two-year supplemental levy in the Fremont School District Tuesday.
The vote was 55 percent against the levy, which the district said was needed to make of differences between what it needed and what it would receive in maintenance and operation money from the state.
The total was 533 in favor of the measure and 649 against.
School Board trustees and district staff have struggled for the last few months to figure out ways to cut spending in anticipation of receiving less money to pay teachers and staff and to pay general district expenses.
After 13 scrappy negotiating sessions the board and teachers reached a contract agreement, and at that time, just three weeks ago, the board voted on the amount of the levy and its terms.
At a meeting to canvass the vote Tuesday night, trustees pondered why the voters failed to support the levy, and seemed to quickly agree that trying again to pass a supplemental levy would not be feasible with such a margin.
"I feel that the voters have spoken," Board Chairman Phil Baker said. "I say we make the cuts. Now we have more hard decisions to make."
The board agreed that voter turnout seemed to be good for such short notice. Some 1,182 people of 6,568 registered voters cast ballots.
Trustee Val Hammond questioned where the district's position had been adequately explained.
"I'm disappointed," Trustee Larry Thurgood said.
The voters defeated the levy in all but two polling places - St. Anthony and Teton.
Trustee James Neubauer said the voters handed the district a "dose of reality."
"You can't fault the patrons," he said. "They've allowed us to build two new high schools and add onto Central in the past few years."
Superintendent Garry Parker said the election results would be a wakeup call to everybody.
The board will likely act quickly to discuss how to make cuts to meet its very tight budget.
Several cuts already have been made, including closing Lincoln Elementary School in St. Anthony and moving students and staff to the Henry's Fork Elementary (formerly Central Elementary) across town.
The tally
Totals: 533 yes, 649 no
South Fremont High School 226 yes, 200,no
North Fremont High School 134 yes, 194, no
Parker School 71 yes, 94, no
Teton School 48 yes, 47 no
Island Park 25 yes, 80 no
Chester 25 yes, 26 no
Diana Richman residence, 4 yes, 8 no
JOYCE EDLEFSEN
jedlefsen@uvjs.com
The vote was 55 percent against the levy, which the district said was needed to make of differences between what it needed and what it would receive in maintenance and operation money from the state.
The total was 533 in favor of the measure and 649 against.
School Board trustees and district staff have struggled for the last few months to figure out ways to cut spending in anticipation of receiving less money to pay teachers and staff and to pay general district expenses.
After 13 scrappy negotiating sessions the board and teachers reached a contract agreement, and at that time, just three weeks ago, the board voted on the amount of the levy and its terms.
At a meeting to canvass the vote Tuesday night, trustees pondered why the voters failed to support the levy, and seemed to quickly agree that trying again to pass a supplemental levy would not be feasible with such a margin.
"I feel that the voters have spoken," Board Chairman Phil Baker said. "I say we make the cuts. Now we have more hard decisions to make."
The board agreed that voter turnout seemed to be good for such short notice. Some 1,182 people of 6,568 registered voters cast ballots.
Trustee Val Hammond questioned where the district's position had been adequately explained.
"I'm disappointed," Trustee Larry Thurgood said.
The voters defeated the levy in all but two polling places - St. Anthony and Teton.
Trustee James Neubauer said the voters handed the district a "dose of reality."
"You can't fault the patrons," he said. "They've allowed us to build two new high schools and add onto Central in the past few years."
Superintendent Garry Parker said the election results would be a wakeup call to everybody.
The board will likely act quickly to discuss how to make cuts to meet its very tight budget.
Several cuts already have been made, including closing Lincoln Elementary School in St. Anthony and moving students and staff to the Henry's Fork Elementary (formerly Central Elementary) across town.
The tally
Totals: 533 yes, 649 no
South Fremont High School 226 yes, 200,no
North Fremont High School 134 yes, 194, no
Parker School 71 yes, 94, no
Teton School 48 yes, 47 no
Island Park 25 yes, 80 no
Chester 25 yes, 26 no
Diana Richman residence, 4 yes, 8 no
JOYCE EDLEFSEN
jedlefsen@uvjs.com
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Will Rhea wrote on Jul 12, 2009 3:01 PM:
And just so the sports people know, music classes also cost more money than just taxes.
So stop with painting me to look selfish by wanting sports cut but not music - it's a damned lie, and you know it. "