In the months leading up to the April election, Spring Valley School Board members and District administrative staff often referred to having multiple referendum items on the ballot as a calculated risk.

That risk didn’t pay off, as both failed to pass on Tuesday, April 4.

Citizens living within the Spring Valley School District voted ‘NO’ on both items including a 7.1 million dollar facilities question regarding the construction of a track, football field and multi-purpose athletic complex at the high school.

The second referendum item was a 1.5 million dollar operational question, which would have supplied the school district an additional $500,000 annually for three years. Spring Valley’s School Board sent the operational question to referendum to keep up with rising everyday expenses largely caused by recently rampant inflation.

Election data showed that of the 1,553 people that voted in Tuesday’s election, 781 (50.28%) voted ‘NO’ on the 1.5 million dollar operational question compared to the 772 that voted to approve the funding.

The populace cast fewer votes on the athletic complex facilities question, which was the second referendum item on the ballot. That means that 15 people left the second question blank. Of the 1,538 people that voted, 901 (58%) voted ‘NO’ on the 7.1 million dollar athletic complex item.

Spring Valley superintendent John Groh contextualized the results and spoke about how school district referendum approval rates have dropped statewide since last spring.

“I’m disappointed that it didn’t pass,” Groh said. “Data from around the state shows referendum passage rates dropped by 20% from last spring to this spring, so something shifted. I think inflation and the economy is the reason why we saw that big drop across the state.”

While the failure of the 7.1 million dollar athletic complex referendum has no immediate serious ramifications, the 1.5 million dollar operational item – which failed by just nine votes – will have real-world impacts on the district almost immediately.

The Spring Valley School District is on pace to operate at an approximately $330,000 deficit for the 2022-23 school year, according to Groh. If the 1.5 million dollar operational referendum would have passed, the funding would have eliminated the deficit for the year and even created a small surplus within the district.

Instead, it failed, and now Spring Valley must dip into its fund balance to pay for everyday expenses. The fund balance is essentially a massive savings account for the school district and although Spring Valley’s balance is more than healthy, the district will still be draining savings for simple operational expenses.

“We will definitely be spending down some of our fund balance, which is a band-aid solution at best,” Groh said. “One of the main reasons we went to a referendum was to avoid a situation where we’re financially in bad shape. We’re in strong shape now, but that will erode a little bit this year and into next year.”

The failed operational portion is an additional blow to an already seemingly adverse situation. Spring Valley struggles to compete with larger schools in terms of financial compensation for employees.

Because of the struggle, along with an already limited budget to hire new employees, the district has only been fully staffed for three days this year. Groh spoke about the concerns regarding not being able to compete financially with other districts.

“There sure is a concern,” Groh said. “The easiest example is that we have only been fully staffed three days this entire school year, meaning we cannot hire the people we need to hire. Our support staff’s starting pay is just over $15 an hour and with the inflation right now, that needs to be adjusted.”

While the failed operational referendum will have almost immediate ramifications within the Spring Valley School District, the 7.1 million dollar facilities item is much less urgent. Groh spoke about the status of the proposed multi-purpose athletic complex.

“I think everybody in Spring Valley knows about that plan now, so the election was a great survey for us,” Groh said. “Now we know that it’s not the right plan right now. I think the next step is to survey the community and really understand what they want. Maybe it was the cost or location change, but we need to capture that information so that we can serve the community best.”

The Spring Valley School District is anticipated to begin surveying the community sometime this spring regarding the future of the proposed athletic complex. For Groh, whether people voted in favor of the 7.1 million dollar facility or against it, he is happy that people got involved and voted.

“I am extremely appreciative of everybody that voted,” Groh said. “It’s disappointing, especially the operational referendum, but it really gives me a clear picture of what to do next. I’m just very appreciative of everybody and I’m glad they voted.”