Once again, voters in Central Unit School District 301 have shot down a proposal to build a replacement high school.
According to unofficial returns from Kane and DeKalb counties, 7,365 people voted “no” to the $224.6 million plan, and 4,496 voted “yes.”
In a statement posted on the Burlington-based district’s website, Superintendent Esther Morgan said, “While the outcome is not what we had hoped, I deeply respect and value the voices of our community members who came forward, cast their votes, and shared their perspectives on the future of our district.”
She also said the outcome “presents new hurdles” to meet. The district has maintained that its enrollment is expected to keep growing and that the high school is too small to handle that projected growth.
The opposition group Building a Better District argued that the district would only grow by another 700-plus students districtwide per a study it commissioned unless a proposed housing development Elgin is considering comes to fruition.
The district should have instead considered building an additional elementary school and adding on to a middle school at a cost of about $80 million, according to the group.
A $195 million request failed in the March primary election and in the April 2023 consolidated election.
Other referendums
Voters gave the Kane County Forest Preserve District permission to increase property taxes for operations and land purchases, 122,532 “yes” votes to 86,611 “no votes.”
In Barrington Unit School District 220, voters favored borrowing $64 million to build a new high school auditorium, do other building improvements throughout the district and enhance the science, arts and mathematics programs.
Voters rejected requests to build two libraries in the Ella Johnson Memorial Library District in Hampshire and Pingree Grove and requests to borrow money for park district construction and refurbishment plans in the Hampshire and Huntley park districts.
All results are unofficial. The county clerk has through Nov. 19 to receive and tabulate outstanding vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day.