By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A school bond issue approved by Buchanan County R-IV voters in April has been approved again, this time with even more support.
The bond issue originally passed in April had to return to the ballot in August, due to a filing error by the Buchanan County Clerk’s office. It passed Tuesday with 92% support.
School Superintendent, Travis Dittemore, says the district is thrilled with the results, especially since the district has never dealt with an August election.
“You know we’re not in school that time of year, not quite yet, and people are busy with their summers and their vacations, so we didn’t really know what to expect,” Dittemore tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “But we were very impressed with the turnout and even thrilled to see even better support for the proposition this time than we had last time.”
Dittemore says the community has always been supportive of school issues, but largest percentages in the past have been between 70% and 80%. In April, the issue passed with an 80% yes vote.
The $2 million bonds issue will finance renovations at the high school in Dekalb and elementary school in Rushville.
Dittemore says having to re-run the issue did cause some setbacks. The district wanted to start projects this summer
“I don’t want to say that it put us a full year behind, but for a lot of the pieces and parts to make them work together it pretty much set us back a minimum of six months,” Dittemore explains. “And for a lot of the things it will set us back a full year.”
Dittemore points out the biggest delay comes with the track, with that project now not being able to get underway until after football season. He also adds delays come in some renovation projects because they have to happen when students and staff are not in the school buildings.
Dittemore says now that the issue has once again passed, the district can pick up where it left off in spring, after it originally passed in April
“We actually have a proposal in place that we can move forward with the track, the track is actually new, it will be a new track,” Dittemore says. “The major thing here at the junior high and high school is new sports lighting for the baseball field.”
Dittemore says the district built the baseball field around five years ago but didn’t have the funds to finish the lighting. The bonds will also help to replace lights around the football field and subsequently, the new track.
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