Referendum

tects to create architectural plans and bid specifications for a project to replace ceilings throughout the building. The district’s goal is to have freshmen back in Central Campus by the fall, McBride said.

Lopez-Caneva said the board has options to consider including another referendum, maintaining the building or a smaller scale renovation.

The board will look into a financial strategy for how to approach renovations, McBride said, but it will likely be a scaled-back version of what the referendum proposed.

“What we learned this year is that old systems fail, and if they fail then the building might not be usable,” McBride said. “The community both sent a signal about what it would like to see happen at Central, but they’ve also assumed some risk in that vote that we could have future failure. I think our board, although they’ll have fewer resources, will likely turn their attention to doing everything they can to prevent future risks.”

District officials will work with a citizen advisory committee, made up of 10 members with various backgrounds in school business, architecture, construction and technology, to determine how to move forward and if another referendum should be proposed, McBride said.

“The history of referendum voting in the district does not support another referendum. In many ways, this vote resembles the past six votes in terms of precinct patterns,” McBride said.

The referendum money was slated for facility upgrades, life safety work, renovating the auditorium and general interior remodeling, according to a financial sheet from DLA Architects.

About $31 million would have gone toward the upgrades and life safety work, including installing a second elevator, McBride said. Renovation of the auditorium, the largest unused space, would have cost $7.2 million and the general interior remodeling was estimated at $24.8 million, according to the financial sheet.

The remaining costs were for contingencies, including a potential $8 million to cover the courtyard to use the space year-round, according to the financial sheet.

John Podgorny, who voted Tuesday at the Lockport Police Department polling location, said he voted against the referendum because of the cost.

“The numbers they’re putting out is just too much,” he said.

Joy Brown said outside the Homer Township Public Library polling location Tuesday that while she’s a former educator and believes students should have modern facilities, she voted no because of the cost.

“They need to figure out howtodoitforless,”Brown said.

Audrey Manly said she was a member of the committee the district formed in 2022 to consider Central Campus’ future. The committee decided it should remain a freshmen center and be renovated, McBride said.

Manly, who voted Tuesday at the Lockport Police Department, said even if she wasn’t on the committee she would’ve voted in favor of the referendum because a more modern building would benefit the students.