UPDATED: School bond referendum fails

Sparta voters turned down a proposal to issue bonds to finance $82.3 million in projects at all five district schools, according to unofficial results of the vote Tuesday, Sept. 16.

The Sussex County Clerk’s Office reported 2,102 “no” votes, about 62 percent of those cast.

Nearly 20 percent of the 17,146 registered voters in Sparta cast ballots in the bond referendum.

During the Board of Education meeting Thursday, Sept. 18, board president Kaitlin Gagnon said, “The margin by which our proposal did not pass is abundantly clear, and it is important that we now take the time to reflect on what that means for our community.”

In the next few months, the board will listen to residents’ feedback and work with school administrators to address the district’s needs, she said.

”We look forward to working together as we thoughtfully revisit this scope of work and consider how and when we will bring a future question back to our constituents for consideration.”

Before the vote, school district officials had said some of the projects would have to be done even if the referendum failed. Those include upgrades to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), electrical and other systems.

In urging approval of the referendum, officials had emphasized that the state would pay $16.9 million, or about 20 percent of the total, if it was approved.

Among the proposed projects was a 46,625-square-foot addition at Alpine School, which officials said is overcrowded.

If the referendum was approved, the owner of the average home in Sparta, which is assessed at $372,229, would have paid about $336 more a year starting in 2026.

During public comments at the school board meeting Sept. 18, Angela DeLuccia, president of the Sparta Education Association and the Sussex County Education Association, said members of those groups were disappointed by the referendum results but “we are not discouraged.”

”Our union believes in solutions. ... If one path is closed, we will continue to work together to create another because our students and our schools deserve nothing less.”