The Garden City Telegram

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Dodge City rejects school bond issue

Published 11/3/2010 in Local News : Area coverage

By KEVIN HARDY

Special to The Telegram

The most expensive school bond issue in southwest Kansas was voted down Tuesday as residents of Dodge City rejected bond votes that would have built a new middle school.

USD 443 asked for a bond issue worth more than $50 million in 2009 to convert Hennessey Hall into a middle school, renovate the existing middle school and expand the district's intermediate center.

After that issue failed, school officials presented a simpler and cheaper alternative this year. But Tuesday's $35 million bond issue to build a new middle school failed by a margin of 62 to 38 percent.

"Of course we're disappointed in the outcome," said Dodge City school board vice president Brian Winter. "But the voters have spoken and that's just kind of the way it went. You win some, you lose some."

Winter said it was too early to speculate on the district's next step. But he did say projected growth in Dodge City and Ford County over the next few years could add even more strain to the growing district.

"This issue won't go away," he said.

If the district tries to build a new school again, Winter said it wouldn't be funded by USD 443 alone.

"The size and scope of this project are too large to be self-funded," he said. "It needs to be done through a bond."

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