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Glenville-Emmons Schools will not be getting a new building in the immediate future, as Glenville-Emmons voters rejected the authorization of the sale of general obligation bonds in Tuesday’s vote. 

According to unofficial results, there were 579 “Yes” votes and 715 “No” votes, meaning the measure failed by 136 votes. Results are unofficial until the school canvases the votes.

Voters at Glenville City Hall supported the referendum by a vote of 555 “Yes” votes to 370 “No.” 

Voters at Emmons City Hall emphatically rejected the referendum, with 345 “No” votes to 24 “Yes” votes.

For comparison, 925 voters cast a ballot one way or the other out of the 1,246 registered voters in the Glenville precinct. Emmons, on the other hand, had 369 people cast ballots. There are 490 registered voters in the Emmons precinct.  

The referendum asked voters to authorize the sale of general obligation building bonds not to exceed $37.42 million “for acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities including, but not limited to, the construction of a new PK-12 school.”

The current high school was built almost 70 years ago, while the elementary building is over 50 years old, and school administration said the new building is needed because the current buildings were run down, citing needs for model repairs, including major systems. 

Lynne Langfald was among those who opposed the bond referendum.

“Thank you to everyone for supporting us and coming out to vote,” she said in a phone interview following the results.

She was hopeful people could move forward following the results.

“Happy with the outcome,” she said.

Lisa Hajek, chairwoman of the Glenville-Emmons school board and a supporter of the bond referendum, admitted she was disappointed in the results.

“Obviously there’s some things that we’ll need to work on moving forward … that we’ll need to focus on and work on to see what we can do next for the school community of Glenville-Emmons,” she said, referring to the school board. 

The referendum drew discussion on both sides of the debate leading up to Tuesday’s vote.

Supporters of the referendum believed no matter how well-maintained the school buildings were, at some point age would have eventually caught up to them anyway and that a new building would be needed.

Opponents, on the other hand, worried about the fiscal impact on families a new school building would have, and said given the school’s declining enrollment, even with a new building there would still be a possibility the district could consolidate and that taxpayers would still be paying for something even if it wasn’t in use.

Voters at Glenville City Hall included residents of Glenville, Myrtle, Freeman Township, Albert Lea Township (Precinct 1), Hayward Township, Oakland Township and London Township. Those eligible to vote in Emmons included residents of Emmons, Nunda Township, Mansfield Township and Pickerel Lake Township.  

Results

Glenville City Hall (including cities of Glenville and Myrtle, Freeman Township, Albert Lea Township P1, Shell Rock Township, Hayward Township, Oakland Township and London Township):

Yes: 554 votes

No: 370 votes

Emmons City Hall (including city of Emmons, Nunda Township, Mansfield Township and Pickerel Lake Township):

Yes: 24 votes

No: 345 votes

 

Total votes

Yes: 579 votes (44.74%)

No: 715 votes (55.26%)

Total: 1294 votes