(Manning) The IKM-Manning School Board will meet on Wednesday to discuss how to proceed after their $19.9 million bond issue failed to pass this week.
IKM-Manning Superintendent Trevor Miller reports over 200 more voters turned out for the bond issue vote compared to last year. The measure fell short by 84 votes. “We were at 56% voted yes. In about everything in life a simple majority wins, but for a general obligation bond you need a super majority of 60%. So we didn’t quite qualify. I want to thank everybody for getting out and voting. That’s impressive for a district our size to have over 2,100 votes in a general obligation bond. People did there civic duty and got out and had their voice heard so now we’ll just have to go back to the drawing board.”
Miller points out the district’s facility needs aren’t going away. “Our buildings aren’t getting any newer. Our repairs aren’t going away. Now we have to go another direction and figure out if the board is going to look at running it again or if we’ll look at other options to get our repairs and do what’s best for our students.”
This was the second attempt at a bond issue and some key changes were made to the plan. “Last year our original bond was to do a bigger addition onto the Manning building and put everything in Manning. It would have been Pre-K through 12 in the Manning building and we listened to our voters last year and the big thing was we were going to do a smaller addition and another gym facility, but also do upgrades to Irwin and more renovations to the rest of the Manning buildings.”
Now it’s up the board of education to determine if they want to give it another try. “It’s once a year, so it would be next September if the board wants to go that direction. You can keep going, but it does cost the district money each time because there are architects and engineers involved making the designs and having meetings. If you want to have a special election you have to pay for that as well. There’s costs involved with it so that will be some of the decisions the board will have to make”
Miller says the board did a good job of reviewing the plan and listening to feedback. He says there was much better turnout this year at the community meetings.
Superintendent Trevor Miller released the following letter to families this week:
Dear Families,
On behalf of the IKM-Manning Community School District, I would like to thank our community members for their thoughtful consideration of the bond issue question that appeared on the ballot.
The unofficial results are in and we’ve learned that the solution presented fell short of the 60% needed to be approved by 84 votes. (The measure received 56% support.)
Unfortunately, we know that our district’s facility needs will not go away. The district and board will now turn our attention to finding an alternative solution to our needs. This work will begin very soon.
We thank you for your participation in this important conversation about our future and your consideration of our proposed solution.
Sincerely,
Trevor Miller
Superintendent
