Mt. Pleasant School Officials to Weigh Capital Projects Options Next Month
Disappointed by the decisive rejection of the district’s capital projects bond, the Mount Pleasant Board of Education will begin deciding how to fund major renovations at its secondary school campus next month.
Board President James Grieco said trustees would formally begin discussions on how to proceed at the board’s Dec. 10 work session.
On Nov. 15, the proposition was soundly defeated, 1,629-713. Following the vote, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Susan Guiney said the district had three options: bring the same referendum back to voters after waiting the required 90 days, propose a modified bond or pay for renovations through the district’s annual budget.
Officials will also seek residents’ opinions to learn why most of the district’s roughly 8,000 registered voters failed to participate in the vote, Grieco said.
At the school board’s Nov. 19 meeting, Brent Harrington was the only resident who spoke about the results, expressing dismay at the bond’s defeat.
Grieco said many residents who opposed the bond were concerned about escalating taxes. The bond would have added $539 to the average homeowner’s tax bill within three years.
Others were critical that it contained work not considered essential.
Nearly 70 percent of the cost of the bond was devoted to infrastructure and renovations, including work to replace and repair ceilings, classroom floors, lighting, heating and ventilation systems at the middle and high schools.
The bond also proposed funding renovations to the high school auditorium, new lighting and sound systems, expanded seating and new artificial turf and lighting at the high school athletic field.
