Bethlehem Votes Swing Region 14 School Configuration Back to K-5

Region 14 elementary schools will be restored to a K-5 configuration next school year.

The Region 14 referendum votes have been tallied and although an overwhelming majority of voters did cast a “yes” vote to keeps schools as is, in Bethlehem 39 more voters punched in “no” on the ballet, overriding the majority and changing the configuration.

For a vote to pass in Region 14, both towns must approve the referendum. In this case Woodbury voters cast 1,657 votes for “yes” and 809 votes for “no” but Bethlehem voters cast 541 votes for “yes” and 580 votes for “no”.

If both towns had voted “yes” it would have allowed the current configuration to continue, sending K-2 to Bethlehem Elementary and 3-5 to Mitchell Elementary in Woodbury.

Woodbury Registrar of Voters Administrator of Elections Anne Schwaikert said she was impressed with the turnout of Woodbury residents at this referendum, indicating that the numbers were significantly higher than previous referendums.

Woodbury has 6,726 registered voters while Bethlehem has 2,797 registered voters.