Belmont Voter's Guide to the Minuteman Special Election

BELMONT, MA – A district-wide referendum will be held Tuesday to decide whether or not $145 million in borrowed funds will be approved to construct a new Minuteman High School.

The districts 16 member towns will vote Tuesday to decide the future of the school at 758 Marrett Rd. in Lexington.

On May 4, Belmont voted 'No' on approving its portion of the debt for the new Minuteman school, forcing a district-wide referendum in order to approve the funding.

Belmont's decision placed the project on an indefinite hiatus, and put a grant of $44 million grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority in jeopardy. Belmont was also the only one of ten member towns planning to stay in the district beyond 2017 to vote 'no' on the bonding for the project.

The election will be determined by a majority and there is no minimum number of voters required. Not every town needs to approve the bond, but rather a majority of the total number of votes cast in all the towns.

Here is some other information you need to know about the special election:

Ballot Question:
"Do you approve of the vote of the Regional District School Committee of the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District taken on June 27, 2016, to authorize the borrowing of $144,922,478 to pay costs of constructing a new district school?"

Polling Locations:

Precinct 1: Belmont Memorial Library, Assembly Room, 336 Concord Avenue

Precinct 2: Belmont Town Hall, Selectmen's Meeting Room, 455 Concord Ave

Precinct 3: Beech Street Center (Senior Center), 266 Beech Street

Precinct 4: Daniel Butler School, 90 White Street

Precinct 5: Beech Street Center (Senior Center), 266 Beech Street

Precinct 6: Belmont Fire Headquarters, 299 Trapelo Road

Precinct 7: Burbank School gym, 266 School Street

Precinct 8: Winn Brook School gym, 97 Waterhouse St (enter from Cross St)

Unsure of your precinct? Don't worry, you can click here to find out.

Polling Hours:

The polls will be open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., as opposed to the standard 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. polling hours.

Joe Lipovich (Patch Staff) contributed to this report