STURGIS, MI – Voters in the Sturgis Public Schools district on Tuesday, May 5, voted downs a $98.475 million bond proposal that would have continued a current millage set to end in four years.
Voting results were announced early Wednesday morning, with 1,501 voting against the bond and 1,277 casting ballots in favor, according to unofficial results.
The proposal fell short in all four of Sturgis’ voting precincts, with 466 in Precinct 1 saying no and 420 saying yes; 279 no votes in Precinct 2 and 259 yes; Precinct 3 showed the largest gap of 100 votes, with 387 voting no and 287 saying yes. Precinct 4 had 369 no votes and 311 yes votes, according to unofficial results released by St. Joseph County.
Proponents of the proposal urged support for the students by providing a strong, maintained campus environment and a place for more athletic opportunities, while those opposed expressed concerns over continued taxes in an economically harsh climate and too much emphasis on perceived “wants” for the athletic complex.
Sturgis Public Schools Superintendent Art Ebert said in a statement early Wednesday that, despite the outcome at the polls Tuesday, he is grateful to everyone who worked on the proposal and to those who exercised their right to vote.
“While this is not the result that we were hoping for, we are grateful for the rich dialogue that we had throughout the bond proposal process,” Ebert said. “We are further thankful for today’s turnout with 2,778 individuals from across Sturgis and the surrounding townships weighing in at the voting booth.
“Our goal was to design a community led proposal and ensure that everyone had the information necessary to make an informed decision,” Ebert said. “Today’s turnout shows that we were successful at engaging the community. I would like to personally thank everyone that voted today, as well as all of the staff and community members that worked so hard over the past 12 months to bring this proposal to life and communicate it to the public.”
It was not known Wednesday how the district will proceed following the decision at the polls. Ebert said at a previous bond informational meeting, when asked what direction the district would take should the proposal be voted down, that the board of education would make that determination and examine feedback.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis voters reject school bond
Reporting by Dan Cherry, Special to Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
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