SCHOOL VOTE REVERSED; BOND PROPOSAL PASSES IN MEADOW HEIGHTS DISTRICT

PATTON -- A recount vote in a Meadow Heights School District bond proposal shows that the issue passed.

Not everyone in the school district is pleased with the reversal in the results, which were determined Tuesday.

The Meadow Heights Board of Education voted 4-3 Thursday night to accept the results.

Board members Harold Miinch, Mike Reagan and Mike Welker voted against accepting them because of a ballot mixup on April 2, election night. Phyllis Bollinger, Junior Cook, Roy Allen and Dennis Mouser voted to approve the results.

The final ballot count was 488 to 366. Bollinger County Clerk Diane Holzum approved the results late Tuesday.

Initially, the $750,000 bond proposal failed by a 1 percent margin. In the election, 56 percent of the residents favored it; passage needed 57 percent.

Board members learned that one vote made the difference in the recount. The board met Thursday to accept the final election results and discuss future building plans.

"Not everybody is happy about it," said board president Dennis Mouser. He refused to further comment.

Holzum said four "yes" votes were found when ballots were counted by hand. Those four votes changed the election results. All "no" votes remained unchanged.

One ballot from Sedgewickville created problems for the election judges. It was clearly marked for all other races, but the school bond question was marked both "yes" and "no."

Other ballots for Sedgewickville precincts were mistakenly taken to Patton and used for voting before the mistake was corrected. That mixup could have tainted the results, some Patton residents say.

During the recount, four local election judges were asked to determine the Sedgewickville voter's intent, said Bob Fulton, a resident who observed the process. He also served on the Meadow Heights school improvements committee.

"All four said the person intended to vote yes," he said, adding that the recount vote was then verified twice by hand and once by electronic machine.

In such cases, state law allows for election judges to determine how they think the person intended to vote.

Often, a defeat is only verified in a recount vote. "Usually it doesn't change anything," Holzum said, adding it was the first recount in her office.

Electronic ballot-counting machines do have a small margin of error, Holzum said. "But I thought it would be within one or two votes," she said.

Mouser also was surprised by the margin of error. "I didn't realize the counters had such an error."

Building repairs and renovations top the list of projects to be completed with the extra revenue. But a timeline isn't definite since work has not been sent to a contractor. It could be completed by late summer or early fall.

The bond proposal approval means some things that need to get done can be fixed, said Superintendent Cheri Fuemmeler.

Repairing leaky roofs, adding handicap accessible ramps, adding air conditioning and new energy-efficient windows and lights are planned as part of the building renovations.

Approval does not require a tax increase in the school district. Additional funds will come from a continuation of a current 50-cent tax levy that passed in 1983.