Published: October 25, 2009 12:10 am      

Bond results

Fayette voters soundly defeat school bond

FAYETTEVILLE — By more than a 3-to-1 margin, Fayette County voters rejected a $49 million bond issue Saturday that would have consolidated four high schools and helped fund school renovation projects countywide.

With all 39 precincts reporting, the votes against the bond call were 4,562, or 77 percent, to 1,334 votes in favor. Only two precincts, Montgomery and Cannelton, supported the bond.

With the vote, the county will lose $22 million in state School Building Authority funds that would have been combined with the bond funds to pay for the project, which included the consolidation of Mount Hope, Oak Hill, Fayetteville and Midland Trail high schools into a new school between Oak Hill and Fayetteville and the closure of the county’s oldest school buildings.

“In my opinion, the schools would have benefited so greatly from this,” Mary Alice Casebolt, a retired Fayette school teacher of 22 years, said. “Now I don’t know what the board is going to do with all of these little schools that are so dilapidated. They’re just not capable of giving the kids the education that they need.”

Geoff Heeter, treasurer for Citizens for Quality Education, agreed, stating he believed the defeat of the bond would make it harder to improve learning conditions, test scores and overall morale.

In contrast, Fayette County resident and CPA Leland O’Neal referred to the proposal as “an ill-conceived plan.”

“The Fayette County Board of Education does not need a consolidated school,” O’Neal said. “What they need is new administration. The people in Fayette County are not anti-taxation or not in support of the school system, but they are tired of the poor administration.”

Anita McClung, of Fayette County Citizens for Community Schools, shared O’Neal’s opposition.

“I’m absolutely tickled to death,” the Mount Hope resident said. “People in this county can’t afford to pay higher taxes, and I see the importance of having small schools. I have a child with a learning disability, and it’s important to have smaller schools for those kids so that they don’t slip through the cracks.”

Fayette County Clerk Kelvin Holliday said Saturday’s vote was “the end of this particular issue because it was a one-shot attempt. The state offered $22 million to go along with the $49 million that our taxpayers were asked to finance, and they said no in an overwhelming way.”

“I guess you could call it a tough sell in tough economic times,” Holliday added. “People did not want their taxes to go up. The people have spoken, and we have to respect that.”

Fayette school board member Leon Ivey says the issues that prompted officials to place the bond call before the voters still remain.

“Everybody said there’s another option,” Ivey said. “So I am going to ask our board president to get with folks that have openly opposed this bond and come back to us with another plan that will be tolerable to the citizens, and that will address the needs of the school system.”

It was the second major defeat of a Fayette school bond issue in eight years. In 2001, a $39 million bond call that would have funded construction of three new high schools and reduced the overall number of schools was soundly defeated, with 86 percent voting against it.

— E-mail: cclark@register-herald.com