BENTONVILLE — A Bentonville School District millage question was soundly voted down Tuesday.
With all precincts reporting, there were 5,589 votes (58 percent) against and 4,029 votes (42 percent) for the millage increase. All results are unofficial until certified by the county Election Commission.
The 6.7-mill increase was proposed to pay for a new 2,000-student second high school in Centerton, remodeling Bentonville High School, technology and heating upgrades and cooling systems districtwide.
If the millage increase had passed, the district would have received $128 million for the projects. Of that, $94 million would have gone to build the second high school. The increase would have pushed the district’s millage to 50.4 mills, the highest in the state, according to Michael Poore, school superintendent.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow,” Poore said of the defeat. “We felt people worked so hard.”
Poore said officials will head back to the drawing board today to try and find a solution to overcrowding at the high school.
“We are really trying to figure out what is the best conversation to bring to the board in July,” Poore said. “We have to look at how we lost and where we lost.”
Travis Riggs, a School Board member, said he was disappointed in the outcome.
“The next years will be tough on students,” Riggs said. “I think parents are going to feel the pain from the decision they (voters) made tonight.”
District boundaries caused some problems with voting Tuesday as did a heavy turnout.
Kim Dennison, election coordinator, said there were problems at Bella Vista Christian Church where district boundaries split precincts.
“Some people that live in Precinct 21 are in the Gravette School District,” Dennison said. “Some of them weren’t sure when they went to vote. It kind of holds up the line when the poll workers have to call the County Clerk’s office to make sure where they live.”
Dennison said heavy turnout at St. Theodore’s Episcopal Church and Centerton Fire House prompted election officials to send extra voting machines to both locations.
“We’re using paper ballots like crazy at St. Theodore’s and we just took two more machines out there,” Dennison said around 2:30 p.m. “It kind of comes and goes at most of the other locations, but we have also taken two more voting machines down to Centerton.”
Tom Sissom contributed to this report.