Hartley- Iowa — This past Tuesday, voters in the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Community School District went to the polls, and for the third time rejected a bond issue that would have financed the construction of a new elementary school, attached to the current high school in Hartley, with a separate entrance and a new playground, as well as an addition to, and renovation of, the middle school in Sanborn. This time around, the measure failed by just 7 votes.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn School Superintendent Bill Thompson calls the close defeat a “tough loss”.
We asked Thompson where the HMS District goes from here in relation to school facilities.
He says if the district moves from the three existing buildings to housing all students in just two, it will cause some crowding.
Thompson says one of the unfortunate aspects of the bond issue defeat is that the price of construction will continue to rise.
At this point the vote totals are unofficial. They don’t become official until they’re canvassed by the O’Brien County Board of Supervisors this coming Tuesday.
