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Discouraged school officials are meeting again tonight to decide their next step in trying to alleviate overcrowding and deteriorating conditions at the 55-year-old high school near Mount Joy.
"Doing nothing is no longer an option," said Donegal business manager Amy Swartz. She declined to specify how the district would move forward, but said officials would not seek a third ballot question.
"The folks I've talked with all seemed very supportive of the high school. They simply said it's just the economic times," Swartz said. "Folks who are dealing with other issues were having a hard time pulling the lever for a tax increase."
The referendum, which asked whether voters in the district support or oppose borrowing $47.9 million for the project, failed, with 52 percent voting no and 48 percent voting yes.
With all precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Yes — 1,847
No — 2,023
"We're disappointed as a collective whole," said Steve Cafrelli, Donegal's school board president. "But it's tough economic times. We recognize that. There's an old saying. 'People vote with their pocketbooks.' "
To repay construction bonds, the district would have raised taxes for the owner of a property assessed at $141,000 — the district average — by $117 each year for three years, beginning in 2010-11.
That $351 increase would have remained in effect until the bonds were paid off in 20 years. At that point, the homeowner would have seen his or her taxes decline by $351 a year.
To help ease the increased tax burden, the district would have implemented a rebate program to cut taxes by up to $650 per year for senior citizens, disabled adults and widows/widowers.
The ballot question was the second effort to win approval for school projects in Donegal within a year. In January, voters overwhelmingly rejected a much larger proposal — borrowing $114 million to build two new schools and renovate three others.
The larger proposal drew intense opposition from residents, with 72 percent voting "no."
The new proposal, had it been approved, would have authorized the district to borrow $47.9 million to build a new high school with a capacity of 1,200 students on farmland between Donegal Springs Elementary School and Anderson Ferry Road.
School officials said the closeness of the vote was a good sign.
"To get this close," Cafrelli said, "and the economic times being what they are — I don't want to say it's positive, but we're appreciative of the support we had for this."
The existing school dates to 1954 and enrolls about 130 more students than it was designed to hold, district officials have said. Since 1976, 14 modular classrooms have been added to accommodate enrollment growth.
The "temporary" facilities were supposed to last eight to 10 years and are in need of about $230,000 worth of roof repairs.
The high school's electrical and sewage systems are overburdened, and students must eat in 30-minute shifts in the cafeteria because of overcrowding.
Donegal was forced to seek referendum approval for the project because it couldn't afford to build a new high school and comply with Act 1, the state law that limits school property tax increases.
