River Valley millage headed for defeat

By KATE SHERIDAN, Tribune Correspondent

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By Jim Pinkerton

Story Created: Aug 5, 2008 at 10:14 PM EST

Story Updated: Aug 6, 2008 at 7:49 AM EST

THREE OAKS — In early unofficial returns, River Valley School District voters appear again to have rejected a $16.69 million, 1.5 mill bond sale proposal to improve the district’s aging facilities and build a new, 53,000-square-foot elementary school in Three Oaks.

The ballot question was trailing, 660 yes to 1,043 no, with eight of nine precincts reporting, including the largest precincts in Three Oaks and Chikaming Township.

Three Oaks voters passed the proposal by a narrow margin, 307-227. Voters in Chikaming soundly defeated the millage with 268 yes votes to 430 no votes. Only 62 Weesaw Township voters said yes; 321 said no. A handful of district voters in Buchanan, Lake, Oronoko and Baroda townships also rejected the request.

The late tallies due in from Galien would not be enough to alter the totals.

"You never know," Schools Superintendent Bob Schroeder said. "I can’t really say why people voted no."

He said district officials will now focus on "getting back to school, seeing how enrollment turns out. We haven’t really discussed what we’d do if the millage didn’t pass. But I’m sure we’ll continue to address the questions as the weeks and months go by."

The bond sale was designed to generate enough revenue to allow River Valley to spend about $11 million on a new state-of-the-art elementary school in Three Oaks, and some $5 million on improvements and upgrades to River Valley Middle/High School.

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