A referendum was held Tuesday March 9 in the South O’Brien School District to decide if the district should issue debt in an amount in excess of $25 million dollars. At about 9:00pm Tuesday evening the unofficial word was “YES.”
Superintendent Wade Riley commented following the announcement of unofficial results, “I am excited for the future of South O’Brien CSD with the passing of the school bond referendum. I am incredibly pleased that the community has made a substantial commitment to our current and future students that will attend South O’Brien CSD.
Turnout was moderate at all three precincts. Sutherland and Calumet showed the most interest by 32.7% of its eligible voters voicing their wishes. Primghar turned in the lowest turnout with 27.5% turnout. A modest 31.8% of eligible Paullina voters showed up.
By precinct the tallies were:
Absentee – 180 votes cast with 119 support and 61 opposed, leaving a strong 66.1% voter support of the project.
Paullina – 355 votes cast. Yes – 227. No – 128. Out of those who voted 63.9% support modern facilities.
Primghar – 279 voters turned out. 193 yeas and 86 nays, gave the project 64.9% of voters’ support.
Sutherland/Calumet brought out 280 voters. 137 support the project while 143 did not. The 48.9% supporting results disfavored the proposed school upgrades.
Overall what matters are the total results. A bond issue must have a 60% support to become effective. This referendum produced 61.79% of supportive residents of the South O’Brien School District for the proposed school facilities improvements. That is enough for the district to finalize its construction plans and move forward. This was the first ballot initiative for this proposed set of improvements.