LCSD voters overwhelmingly reject $12.5 million bond issue

GLENDA SANDERS |, The Meridian Star, Miss.
·3 min read

Oct. 4—Voters in the Lauderdale County School District overwhelmingly defeated a bond issue Tuesday that would have allowed the district to issue $12.5 million in bonds to build a consolidated Career and Technical Education Center for county school students.

With what many consider a big voter turnout for a special election, voters rejected the bond issue by almost 5-to-1. According to unofficial results released from Lauderdale County Election Central, 871 voters supported the bond issue and 4,299, or 83%, voted against the referendum.

With the failure of the bond issue, LCSD Superintendent Dr. John-Mark Cain said the district will continue on with the project to build a new centralized CTE Center for the county students though at a much slower pace.

"The special election was always centered on a choice; a choice to move forward with the current designed plan and programs or to slowly move into the new center in phases," Cain said.

"Per the results, voters have spoken, and sent a clear message to reassess the pace and scope of Career and Technical Education expansion in the Lauderdale County School District," he said.

The $12.5 million bond issue, along with $6.5 million remaining from an $8 million appropriation from the state, would have allowed the school district to turn the 60,000-square-foot old Peavey Electronics building, located on Highway 11/80, into a new innovative CTE Center. The first of its kind in the state, the center would have greatly expanded the district's current number of CTE programs, adding many new programs, and opening them up to all county students districtwide. Presently, students can only take CTE classes offered on their own campus or at Meridian's Ross Collins Career and Technical Center.

"With the results, the administration, along with the Lauderdale County School District Board of Education, will move forward with the project in a way that helps provide more opportunities to all LCSD students without additional taxes from county residents," Cain said. "Moving forward, the administration aims to enlist more stakeholder support from students, parents, educators, industries and organizations to bring this project to a reality for the students of Lauderdale County."

Cain thanked all of the faculty and staff in the district who "did everything asked to prepare and host the elections on their campuses," as well as the county election commission for "a smooth and orderly election day." He also thanked the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department for its "commitment to providing safety and logistical support." There were no incidents reported despite numerous parents expressing concerns about the safety of their children with voting held on school campuses.

This is the third bond issue by school districts in the state put before voters in special elections in recent weeks.

On Sept. 19, a $37 million bond issue was approved by Oxford school district voters by more than 80%. Proceeds from the Oxford bond issue are to fund renovations to the district's early childhood center, the expansion of CTE classrooms at the high school, and several upgrades to athletic and outdoor facilities.

Meanwhile, voters in the Union County School District in north Mississippi defeated, by almost a 2-to-1 vote, an $18 million bond issue on Sept. 25 aimed at significantly relieving overcrowding at its four county schools. With the failure of the bond issue, Union County school officials said they would have to bring in more manufactured housing units to use as classrooms.

Like in Lauderdale County, Union County residents complained they were not given sufficient notice about the special election despite several community meetings and coverage in local media and accused officials of trying to "sneak the vote in under the wire," according to published news reports. Also, social media campaigns in the Union County vote, similar to Lauderdale County, sometimes got contentious. Voters in both counties also balked at the huge price tags associated with their respective bond issues.

Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.