Byron school board OKs May 11 bond referendum

Byron voters will be going to the polls on May 11 to decide the fate of a two-question bond referendum that totals more than $40 million.
The school board approved the referendum and the election date at a special meeting on Monday night.
The first question on the ballot will be if the district should be authorized to issue general obligation bonds not to exceed $29.7 million to provide funds for improvements at Byron High School, including accessibility and safety; electrical, mechanical and building updates and replacements at the District Administration and Community Services building; the addition and equipping of classrooms at Byron High School; updates to Byron High School and Middle School athletic facilities; updates to kitchen facilities at the Middle School, Intermediate School and Administration and Community Services building and renovation of facilities for Community Education and Early Childhood Programs.
A second ballot question is for the approval of general obligation bonds for the Byron High School auditorium in an amount not to exceed $11,785,000. The money would include the addition and equipping of an auditorium and related facilities.
The referendum was approved on a 6-1 vote with Board Member Mike Denney casting the sole no vote.
During the discussion on the proposed election, Denney said that while he is in favor of the referendum and believes all the projects included in the referendum are needed he is concerned about dividing the vote into only two questions. He said he was afraid that the way the referendum ballot was worded put the passage of the entire project at risk and while the auditorium and sports facilities are needed he did not want to jeopardize the part of the bond that would improve classroom facilities.
He suggested the ballot include three rather than two questions with the first question dealing with improvements to the buildings and separate questions for the auditorium and the athletic facilities.
He said he was basing his view on the discussions he has had with Byron voters that they wanted more of a choice of how their money was spent, especially given the country is still in a COVID pandemic and many people have lost their jobs or seen their incomes decline.
That sentiment was echoed by several individuals via email to the district offices and also public comments made by one individual at Monday night’s meeting.
Other school board members agreed people see things as “needs” and “wants” but that it is the job of the school board to explain to voters why everything in the bond referendum is a “need.”
The reasoning that keeping two questions could put the entire referendum at risk is that Question 2 automatically fails unless Question 1 is passed. If Question 1 failed because of voter concerns about a part of the question the entire referendum fails.
Voters last spring rejected a bond referendum by a large margin.