A Whitebead bond issue originally set to appear on the April 5 ballot has been put on hold. The Whitebead Board of Education voted Monday night to postpone the $3.77 million bond issue election, potentially putting it back on a ballot later this year.
The purpose of the proposed bond issue is to construct, furnish and equip a safe room and classroom building for the district. The board’s three members have been split 2-1 on the bond issue, with board members Jess Patton and Ed Tillery voting in favor of placing the bond issue on the ballot and board member Everett Plummer opposing it.
During the board’s regular meeting on Monday, Whitebead Superintendent Lou Ann Wood told the board she had spoken with representatives from Stephen H. McDonald & Associates, the financial firm hired during a special meeting on Jan. 19 to advise the district on the bond issue. They told her it is more difficult to get a bond issue passed without full board support, and once a bond issue has failed, it is often harder to get it to pass on subsequent ballots. Because of that, Wood said she thought the best decision would be to put the bond issue on hold.
“I tend to agree with that. I think under the circumstances there seems to be not a total hundred percent of the board on board with this bond issue and for that reason I would move that we rescind our April 5, 2022, bond election and just put it on hold,” board member Ed Tillery said.
All three board members voted in favor of Tillery’s motion.
Voters in the Whitebead school district will still be voting for school board candidates on the April 5 ballot.
