
DATE: Wednesday, May 21, 1997               TAG: 9705210556

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:  128 lines

VOTERS REJECT DARE SCHOOL BOND THE CONSTRUCTION PACKAGE, WHICH WOULD HAVE RAISED TAXES, IS SOUNDLY DEFEATED.

Dare County voters overwhelmingly rejected a $59.5 million school construction bond issue Tuesday.

The controversial proposal drew nearly 60 percent of the registered voters to the polls, the highest single-issue turnout in memory, and they turned it down by more than a three-to-one count.

The unofficial vote count was 2,167 for and 7,608 against. Opponents carried every precinct in the county, including those considered to be bond strongholds - Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Colington and Duck.

As expected, the bond was soundly defeated on Hatteras and Roanoke Island and on the Dare County mainland.

In Stumpy Point, all 91 voters turned down the proposal. Only a single ``yes'' vote was cast in Manns Harbor and in East Lake.

In a prepared statement, the Dare County Board of Education said, ``We are disappointed by the outcome. But our mission will continue to be meeting the needs of all students in the Dare County Schools.

``Over the next few months, there will be a careful analysis of the results and time to study the future of our school system. We will continue to have school and we will continue to strive for improvement.

``As our student population continues to increase, we will work diligently to overcome space problems by being as creative as possible in scheduling. Program concerns will continue to be our focus - continually aimed at preparing students for the next century.

``There are no winners and losers in the process. Everyone has participated and the process will move forward.''

Many considered the bond referendum to be the most divisive issue in the 127-year history of the county. But Dr. Walter Holton, a leading member of Citizens for Responsible School Planning, said the wide margin of defeat for the package is an indicator of county unity.

``When you have a voting percentage that's approaching 75 and possibly 80 percent against the bond, that's a show of unity,'' Holton said after the results became clear.``This issue is not as divisive as people said it was.''

Holton said the responsibility now falls to the Dare County Board of Education to come up with a new plan.

``The board has got to put aside personal agendas and everything that has happened in the past, and work toward a plan that's going to meet the needs of all the children of Dare County, from the northern beaches to Hatteras Island,'' Holton said. ``And it's going to have to do it with fiscal responsibility as a cornerstone. That's what we've said all along. And that's what people throughout this county indicated tonight.''

Holton struck a conciliatory note.

``We need to have everyone in this county involved in the process of meeting the needs of our children,'' Holton said. ``The School Board and the Board of Commissioners are going to have to work together to meet the needs of our children.''

Chuck Burton, chairman of the ``Citizens For The School Bond,'' also tried to strike a unifying note in his written statement.

``The defeat of today's bond referendum is not a vote against education or new schools or the additional teachers and classrooms we need,'' Burton said. ``The huge number of voters who exercised their right to vote and their best judgment today all want the same results: to prepare our children intellectually for the challenges of a changing world. The differences among voters have focused on the best way to achieve this common goal.''

Burton added, ``Outside of their classrooms, our children will be looking to all caring adults for lessons in cooperation. Let them see the entire community join together in developing a building plan agreeable to all.''

The proposed package would have funded construction of a new beach high school, a new elementary school in Manteo and system-wide renovations. County officials had said it would take an 18-cent tax hike to finance the bonds. That would have been added to the 40-cent tax now on every $100 worth of property.

Critics of the bond said the Dare County Board of Education's plan was ill-conceived and would have created a district with separate but unequal high schools.

Bond supporters argued that with school populations bursting at the seams, the proposal was the best solution for those overcrowding problems.

Now that the bruising battle is over, said Shirley Hassle, a county commissioner, ``we have a lot of hugging and kissing to do - but we can do it.''

Malcolm Fearing III, a Manteo businessman who fought the proposal, said, ``Some people tried to divide us but the vote showed we are one county.''

The Board of Education's building plan earmarked $56.1 million for new school facilities and renovations, including:

A new beach high school: $25.9 million;

Renovations at Manteo High School: $4.08 million;

Renovations at Manteo Middle School: $3.8 million;

Renovations at Cape Hatteras School/Auditorium: $11.2 million;

New Manteo K-2 school: $8.68 million;

Renovations at Manteo Elementary: School $744,000;

Renovations at First Flight Middle School: $1.7 million.

The proposal also included $7,171,200 for deferred maintenance at all county schools, as well as $2 million for land acquisition for future facilities construction. MEMO: Correspondent Miles Daniels contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Voters walk to the Kill Devil Hills polling station Tuesday as

supporters and opponents of the Dare County school bond gather

outside.

Graphic

PRECINCT BY PRECINCT, THE VOTE WAS "NO"

Here is a breakdown of the precincts, the number of registered

voters in each, and how they voted Tuesday in the $59.5 million

school bond referendum, according to Lynda Midgett, director of Dare

County elections:

Avon, 518 registered voters: Yes, 7. No, 284.

Buxton, 632 registered voters: Yes, 18. No, 327.