North Penn School District residents voted down a ballot question proposing a major expansion of North Penn High School in a Jan. 16 special election. Despite heavy snows and freezing temperatures, unofficial county vote totals reported 10,790 votes against the borrowing, versus 7,844 votes in favor, and only 166 absentee and mail-in votes pending review. According to the county, all results are unofficial until certified by the county’s board of elections during a public meeting. “The only way you can respond at this point is that the community has spoken,” Superintendent Todd Bauer said the morning after the election. “We’re going to move forward, starting right now. The votes were roughly 42 percent to 58, so that’s clear. And that’s OK, that’s how things work: we left it up to the community, they spoke, and here we are,” he said. The referendum asked whether voters approve the district borrowing $97 million and raising taxes above the normal state cap to fund major renovations to North Penn High School. Board members and district administrators have discussed for years the various failures and needs of the current high school, and presented to the community on the reasons to move ninth grade from the district’s three middle schools to the high school. The election outcome means the high school will still be renovated, but within its existing footprint, and ninth grade will stay at the district’s three middle schools. For more information, read the referendum update on the North Penn website.
Source: The Reporter; 1/17/2024