Majority Of Voters Do Not Support District 41 Bond Referendum

GLEN ELLYN, IL — The majority of voters Tuesday did not support a $49 million bond referendum proposed by Glen Ellyn School District 41 to help fund the expansion of Churchill Elementary School with an early learning center and construct a new school building on the former site of Spalding School.

The funds would also have been used for improvements and repairs to other school buildings throughout the district.

Polls officially closed at 7 p.m. Results are not official. Check back to Patch for updates.

Here's where the unofficial vote totals stood as of Wednesday, with 100 percent of Election Day ballots tallied, according to DuPage County Clerk's Office.

• Yes: 4,327
• No: 7,953

The county's election results page did not indicate how many precincts had been counted.

Below is how the bond referendum question appeared on the ballot:

“Shall the Board of Education of Glen Ellyn School District Number 41, DuPage County, Illinois, build and equip a school building on the Spalding property, build and equip an early learning center addition to the Churchill Elementary School Building, alter, repair and equip existing school buildings, including constructing improvements to provide full-day kindergarten, additional classrooms, additional space for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) activities, updated infrastructure and collaborative learning spaces, improve sites and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $49,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?”

On Aug. 15, District 41 board members voted in favor of placing the bond referendum question on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. The vote came after surveys indicated support for the district making changes to address what its website called "significant space issues."

Funds would be used to build out Churchill School with an early learning center and construct an elementary school at the former site of Spalding School near the intersection of Main and 1st Streets. Spalding School closed in 1978 and was razed in 1997.

If the space issues are resolved, the district plans to make other long-awaited changes, such as reducing classroom sizes, adding all-day kindergarten and expanding opportunities for specialized learning. Subsequent boundary changes would likely take effect to accommodate the addition of all-day kindergarten, per the District 41 website.

Information sessions were held in late September and early October to give residents more details about the proposals.

In addition to the $49 million bond referendum, District 41 plans to tap into $18 million in current fund reserves to cover the proposed $67 million price tag for the developments. It's estimated that the average tax impact would be $276 for homes valued at $400,000. Click the link to calculate your tax estimate.

District 41 officials released a statement Wednesday that said, in part,

"Although the outcome was not what we had hoped, I am confident that we will continue to provide an excellent education for our students. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer full-day kindergarten for all of our families, but we will continue to find creative ways to provide the early learning foundation needed for student success."