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Voters approve school levy by 72.5 percent in huge turnout
A massive turnout of voters overwhelmingly approved the Mountain Home School District's request for a temporary supplemental levy Thursday, with 2,621 district patrons voting yes to only 992 voting no.
The vote authorizes the school district to levy $2.8 million in each of the next two years if necessary, averting a major funding crisis and saving the district's extracurricular programs.
Despite the levy's approval, the district will still slash over a million dollars from its budget and teachers will see a 4 percent cut in pay while district administrators will take a 6.5 percent cut in pay.
"I have never been so glad to take a 6.5 percent pay cut in my life," said James Gilbert, the assistant superintendent of schools, as he breathed a sigh of relief at the final tally.
Voter turnout was heavy throughout the day at all of the schools in Mountain Home, with long lines that stretched outside the buildings at times at both East and North Elementary, where extra ballots had to be delivered during the day to meet the demand. At East alone, 125 voters were registered on election day.
The final total was over 400 votes greater than that cast in the entire county during Tuesday's primary election.
"We had a great group of people who took on this project and made it their own," school board Chairman Jim Alexander said, referring to alumni and high school students, especially the seniors, who had worked hard to encourage passage of the levy.
"I think thanks to those people, this community is closer than it ever has been before. The energy out there was palpable. Any time you win by 72.5 percent, for any election, that's phenomenal and speaks highly to the people of this community."
Superintendent Tim McMurtrey echoed those thoughts.
"It's obvious the community cares.
"I am proud of this community, the kids, the teachers and the staff.
"Everyone realized we were in a crisis situation and had to do something. People were concerned about the education of the kids, and realized that extra-curricular activities play a vital role in developing well-rounded students."
Had the levy failed, the district would have had to slash programs to the bone, including cutting all extra-curricular activities, one of the factors that had energized students to become heavily involved in the election. Passage saved those programs.
Unofficial returns Thursday night showed the following results from each school voting site:
North Elementary-- 663 yes, 286 no (with two spoiled ballots).
East Elementary -- 499 yes, 256 no.
West Elementary -- 392 yes, 160 no.
Hacker Middle School -- 326 yes, 121 no.
Mountain Home Junior High School -- 287 yes, 93 no.
Mountain Home High School -- 454 yes, 76 no.