Schools

Voters Turn Down Fenton Schools $9.6 million Bond

A total of 54.65 percent of people vote no on the proposal.

Voters said no to a $9.6 million bond for Fenton Area Public Schools Tuesday.

A total of 1,110 residents (54.65 percent) voted no, while 921 voters marked yes on the ballot.

A total of 2,032 voters turned out from 16,175 registered (12.56 percent) for the election.

Find out what's happening in Fentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Technology in the classroom was one of the driving forces behind .

The bond proposal called for $6.4 million on technology including wireless access at the school, replacing older computers with current operating systems and software and upgrading the district data network in order to increase performance and capacity.

Find out what's happening in Fentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our students need the tools to be successful in the 21st century environment,”  Fenton Superintendent Dr. Timothy Jalkanen had said.

Updating school buses, improving traffic flow at  and increase parking capacity at  were also part of the bond. Additional security updates are also planned for every school building.

Many Fenton residents shared their opinions about the bond failure on the Fenton Patch Facebook Page.

"Glad. Stop the spending. Our kids have it good. They are very fortunate," posted John Nicholson.

"That's very sad for our kids!" commented Debi Johnson.

School Board President Lynn Hopper told the Flint Journal she wants to put the bond back on the ballot in the future.

"We'll just have to regroup. I have to hope that it's the economy – that's the reason for it (failing)," Hopper said in the article. "It's something that has to take place if we want out kids to succeed."

*Election results obtained from the Genesee County Clerk are unofficial.


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