With voters rejecting a $98 million bond request from St. Joseph Public Schools Tuesday, it will be back to the drawing board for district leaders.
Superintendent Jenny Fee tells us she’s disappointed by the election result, but thankful for the help and support the district received as it sought the bond. What now?
“Obviously, we weren’t excited about the results, but we understand that it was a big ask,” Fee said. “It was a unique ask for our community, and we will take information and feedback and take that in and reflect upon where we need to go next. It’s too soon after the election to say what that will exactly look like, but we will be regrouping because there’s things in the district that need to be addressed and we’re going to have to find an approach to do that.”
Fee says the need remains for many projects at St. Joseph Public Schools.
“As the polls were closing last night and the rain was coming down, we were putting buckets under our ceilings that were leaking in school buildings. So, we have things that need to be addressed that we’ve been patching up and putting band-aids on for a few years, and we’re going to have to get creative and find some innovative ways to address those.”
Fee told us previously it had been a while since St. Joe asked for an improvement bond, so many needs had added up.
Of the $98.5 million included in the bond proposal, half would have been for infrastructure, while the other half would have gone toward improving the classroom experience. Among other things, it would have paid for roof work districtwide, new boilers, athletic facilities, and updated classrooms.
