Minooka School Bond Goes Down In Defeat

MINOOKA, IL - For the second time this year, voters in the Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201 rejected a school bond measure to pay for the construction of a new junior high school building. This time it went down by about 950 v0tes, based on unofficial vote totals from three counties, Will, Kendall and Grundy Counties.

The Minooka school bond was largely defeated based on fierce opposition from voters in Grundy County; the measure had 1,790 yes votes but 2,909 votes in opposition.

In Will County, with all precincts reporting, the measure had 2,150 yes votes but 2,182 no votes. Kendall County was the only county where the voters supported the measure, 1,061 yes votes to 870 votes in opposition.

The issue on the March ballot that was defeated called for a $90 million school bond measure.

That measure had slim support from voters in Will and Kendall Counties, but it lost by about 670 votes because of strong opposition in Grundy County. On Nov. 6, voters in Minooka School District 201 will vote whether to approve another Minooka school bond. This time, it was for $50 million.

In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 6 election, a grassroots community group called Minooka 201- Building for the Future Committee has been trying to alert residents across the district about the importance of voting on Nov. 6.

Election results:

• In favor of the bond measure 45.66 percent
• Against the bond measure 54.34 percent

Return to Patch Tuesday night for the latest vote tally. Subscribe to free News Alerts for election results. The polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m. NOTE: Tuesday's results are unofficial and do not include provisional and late absentee ballots.

If the $50 million school bond measure did not pass on Nov. 6, the committee said the school district will face the following negative consequences:

• Staggered class schedules
• Lunch periods as early as 9:30 a.m. or as late as 2 p.m.
• Closing additional labs and fine arts spaces
• Detrimental class sizes

"Since the referendum failed in March, 11 teachers already share a classroom or teach off of a cart. Class sizes have increased and hallways are packed," Minooka 201- Building for the Future Committee explains.

If voters came together to support the $50 million bond initiative, a new school building for students in grades five, six, seven and eight would be built on Seil Road. If all goes as planned, the new school would open for students in the fall of 2020.

More Illinois voting info: Everything To Know About The Illinois 2018 Midterm Elections

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