Over 600 Complete Survey on Failed ‘23 Charles City High School Bond Referendum
Over 600 stakeholders in the Charles City School District have weighed in on a survey asking for input on the $28.5 million bond referendum that failed to pass in November 2023.
Funding from the bond would have paid for sweeping improvements to a Charles City High School building that hasn’t had any major work done to it since it was built in 1960. About a third-of the money was targeted for a performing arts auditorium. However, the measure fell well short of the 60% supermajority YES votes required for approval, with 58% of votes against the bond and only 42% in favor.
Now, school officials are looking to take another run at addressing school facility needs, perhaps including a performing arts center. Last month, the School Board approved a contract with FEH Design to put a bond referendum before voters this November. As part of their preparation, a survey was conducted asking for stakeholders’ opinions on why they didn’t vote in favor of and/or why they felt the ‘23 bond referendum failed to pass.
School Superintendent Brian Burnight says he is “very grateful that a statistically significant number of 655 people completed the survey. With the sample size from the last election, that is a confidence interval of 95% with a less than 4% margin of error. We got some constructive feedback to help guide the architects and the bond process going forward.”
Burnight adds that information from the survey is expected to be presented to the School Board on Monday (04.14).
Last month, the Charles City School Board also voted unanimously to issue $4 million in Infrastructure Sales, Services and Use Tax Revenue Bonds to pay for improvements at the High School, including HVAC, electrical and plumbing upgrades, and making bathrooms ADA compliant. FEH’s Matt Basye says that will allow the district to “lower the ask” for a bond referendum, though no dollar amount has been established to this point.
