The Rye City School District issued the following statement this morning, December 14, 2011, on the defeat of the $20 Million bond:
Rye City School District voters went to the polls yesterday and cast their ballots on the Middle School/High School Enrollment & Science Solution Bond to address the issues of space constraints and outdated science labs at the Middle School/High School campus.
The Bond was defeated, with 1471 residents voting YES and 1777 voting NO.
After the results were announced last night, Board of Education President Laura Slack stated, "Although the Board of Education is disappointed by the results of the bond vote, our space challenges have not changed. The fact remains that the Middle School/High School building is already over capacity and enrollment projections indicate that this will continue to be the case in future years. And our science labs from the 1960's and '70's are another critical area of concern.
"It is troubling that in a community like ours, a well-funded campaign of consistent misinformation, distortions, and fabrications was used to undermine our schools. Despite the District continuing to correct false statements, those responsible continued to make them, including in expensive mailings, advertisements and robo calls. Unfortunately, those unable to vote, our children, were the true losers today.
"The vote today will not end the Board's commitment to finding a solution to the enrollment issue. The Board will continue our dedication to the education of the children in the District."
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Shine said in a statement, "It is disappointing that the bond proposal has been defeated. The Board and Administration worked hard to keep the bond scope focused on the most urgent challenges, with minimal impact to taxpayers. The Board will discuss future ways to addressing these challenges and will keep the community involved and informed during this process. I would like to thank everyone who came out to vote for your involvement in our District, I would also like to thank Elaine Cuglietto, District Clerk, for successfully overseeing and organizing the regulations and procedures required to run an election."
Why does the BOE assume this bond was defeated because of the…..
“Despite the District continuing to correct false statements, those responsible continued to make them, including in expensive mailings, advertisements and robo calls. Unfortunately, those unable to vote, our children, were the true losers today”.
Where is the proof that this was the cause? Maybe the Rye world finally woke up.
How about the 6,000 that didn’t vote, don’t they deserve some blame?