Referendum passes
By Kay James, Dells Events
Voters in the Wisconsin Dells School District approved a referendum Tuesday allowing the district to build an addition to Spring Hill Elementary School.
The vote was 899 yes to 556 no to borrow $2.3 million to build an eight-classroom, two-level addition to Spring Hill School.
While the city of Wisconsin Dells and Village of Lake Delton residents overwhelming approved the referendum, the vote was closer or more opposed to the idea of enlarging the elementary school in the rural townships.
The district sought the addition to house 4-year-old kindergarten students and other lower-level elementary grade students. District Administrator Chuck Whitsell said the addition will make it possible for the district to continue in the Wisconsin Student Achievement Guarantee in Education, or SAGE, program that gives financial support to school districts that maintain class sizes of 15 or fewer students in kindergarten through third grade. The Dells School District received about $560,000 last year from SAGE. The money is distributed based on the number of students in a district eligible for financial aid on school meals. The money supports the employment of 10 to 11 teachers, he said.
The district plans to have the addition constructed in the spring and ready for students by next school year.
The district hopes to save $345,000 in interest by receiving Qualified School Construction Bonds, but it will not know until January if it will qualify for those bonds. Whitsell has also said he hopes construction costs will be less in the recession. The district has had a general contractor say he will not take a mark-up on the project, saving the district thousands, it was reported.
The building will not increase taxes on district residents, Whitsell has said, because the district is paying off bonds it has. Without passage of the referendum, taxes on a $150,000 home would have decreased $15, but will now remain the same.
Thursday, Whitsell said, “I was real concerned about the turnout.
“I think something like this is important for the community. Obviously I’m pleased that we passed the referendum,” he said.
Whitsell said turnout for the 2007 referendum to exceed the revenue limits was 2,400 whereas on Tuesday 1,455 people voted.
He expected the referendum might pass with 600 or 700 votes when in reality nearly 900 people voted in favor.
“I worry about low votes because I want the community to make the decision, not just a small element of the community,” he said. He added people in Dellona, where he lives, were unaware of the vote.
The next step is to have the board approve the architect getting permits for the project and entering bidding and construction.
–Anna Krejci contributed to this story.
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How they voted
Yes No
Wisconsin Dells 295 101
Lake Delton 176 59
Dellona 74 37
Dell Prairie 92 100
Springville 17 25
Jackson 19 8
New Haven 52 43
Douglas 18 44
Newport 83 59
Delton 37 38
Lyndon 36 42