School projects rejected

JACKSON — Administrators in the Jackson School District are regrouping following the defeat of four referendum questions on Jan. 26.

Residents who went to the polls in Jackson soundly defeated a quartet of proposals that would have brought various upgrades to Jackson schools.

According to information provided by the school district, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $332,800 would have paid an additional $33 in property taxes per year if all four questions had been approved.

“We are obviously disappointed that the referendum was not successful,” Jackson Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said in the wake of the defeat. “At this point we are looking forward to reaching out to Jackson residents to discover how we can better understand them, how we can better communicate with them and how we can better serve them.”

Any one of the four ballot questions could have been approved independent of the results of the other questions. One, two, three or four questions could have been approved in the referendum, but none were. The total amount of all four referendum questions was $29,458,980.

Question No. 1 was for a solar energy project. The Board of Education would have been authorized to undertake the acquisition and installation of solar panels at Jackson Memorial High School. This question was defeated 2,854 to 2,294.

Question No. 2 was for upgrades at several schools. The Board of Education would have been authorized to undertake various improvements, renovations, information technology upgrades and security system upgrades to Jackson Memorial High School, and security system upgrades to Jackson Liberty High School, McAuliffe Middle School, Goetz Middle School, Crawford-Rodriguez Elementary School, Rosenauer School, Holman School, Switlik School, Johnson School and Elms Elementary School. This question was defeated 3,033 to 2,041.

Question No. 3 proposed the replacement of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at Jackson Memorial High School. This question was defeated 2,992 to 2,148.

Question No. 4 sought voter approval to install an irrigation system for the athletic complex at Jackson Liberty High School. This question was defeated 3,835 to 1,274.

Staff writer Dave Benjamin may be reached at dbenjamin@gmnews.com.