A proposed $41.8 million bond issue that would have allowed Raymond Central to consolidate into one campus failed to pass Tuesday, once again shutting down efforts to completely centralize the district northwest of Lincoln.
In resounding fashion, voters turned down the proposed bond issue in a mail-only election, rejecting a plan that would have seen the district close elementary schools in Ceresco and Valparaiso in favor of a new K-6 building next to its junior/senior high school.Â
About 73% of votes cast were opposed to the bond, according to unofficial results from the Saunders County Election Commissioner's Office.
Tuesday at 5 p.m. was the deadline for voters in Butler, Lancaster, Saunders and Seward counties who live in the district to turn in their ballots.
The bond would have paid for a 62,000-square-foot elementary school with a competition gym on Raymond Central's main campus, which is northwest of Lincoln. The district serves about 730 students, including from the surrounding communities of Agnew, Ceresco, Davey, Raymond and Valparaiso.Â
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The bond would have also covered renovations at the high school, targeting classroom space for career and technical education, science and special education and other amenities like a new elevator.
But parents and community members in Ceresco and Valparaiso balked at the plan, arguing that shuttering their village's schools would be detrimental to their respective communities. Organizers even formed a "Save Our Schools" campaign to oppose the bond issue, with signs bearing the slogan popping up around the district.
School officials, however, said the bond was needed to address capacity concerns, transportation issues and aging facilities, pointing to districts like Norris that experienced growth after consolidation.Â
The bond would have raised the district's tax levy by more than 26 cents per $100 of property valuation, or $536 a year for the owner of a $200,000 house. Ag land is valued at 50% for the purpose of school bonds, according to state law.
The bond resembled past efforts to completely centralize the district, which voters have resoundingly rejected, including in the 1980s and ’90s.