Voters overwhelmingly supported new construction projects in ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area school districts in Tuesday’s election, as most of the 10 ballot measures across the region were approved.
One exception was the hotly contested $70 million bond issue to build a new elementary school and ease crowding in the Kirkwood School District. Final but unofficial returns showed a majority of voters opposed the measure, which required more than 57% approval to pass.
School leaders across the area had said they were concerned about financial insecurities caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but hoped that the long-term needs of aging infrastructure would take priority in approving the bond issues.
“We know the economy is hurting, but we know this will be a job creator and make a positive impact,†said Mary Hendricks-Harris, superintendent of the Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County. Voters there passed a $244 million bond issue to rebuild Francis Howell North High School and upgrade wiring, plumbing, security and other systems in the district’s other buildings.
People are also reading…
Results were also positive for the approval of bonds in Brentwood, Maplewood-Richmond Heights and Ritenour school districts in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County; Crystal City and Fox districts in Jefferson County; and Orchard Farm in St. Charles County.
Also approved were two propositions in Wentzville aimed at raising staff salaries and addressing crowding in the state’s fastest-growing school district.
Voters in Warrenton again rejected a 39-cent tax increase for every $100 of assessed value to fund pay raises for teachers and staff. Voters turned down a similar measure in August.
In the Kirkwood School District, opponents to the school bond issue were led by the organization Tax Fairly. If the measure had passed, a new elementary school would have been built on 13 acres owned by the district on Lindeman Road.
Tax Fairly members disputed the district’s expectations of continued enrollment growth and cited environmental and traffic concerns around the potential school site.
It will be necessary to redraw the five elementary schools’ attendance boundaries in the next year regardless of the election’s outcome, district leaders said.
In the Kirkwood School Board race, incumbent Julie Backer lost her bid for reelection. Backer opposed the bond measure and was nearly censured by the board earlier this year before apologizing for statements and actions that were “inconsistent†with district policies.
Backer said the proposal to build a new elementary school was inappropriate, and that she felt the proposed censure was retaliation for that stance.
School board seats in several other districts also were contested on Tuesday. The election was the second time the Ferguson-Florissant School District used cumulative voting to boost racial equity on the board of education. In the race for three open seats, district voters were allowed three votes that could all be given to one candidate or split among three candidates.
The use of cumulative voting resulted from a successful 2014 lawsuit claiming the district’s prior at-large system violated the Voting Rights Act because white voters — one-half of the district’s voting population — could disenfranchise black students who make up more than 80% of the district’s enrollment.
The 2019 election did not change the racial makeup of the board with four white members and three black members. But Tuesday’s election flipped the majority to four black members.