Anamosa School District votes down funding construction of new middle school

Even after a classroom ceiling collapsed at West Middle School on Jan. 4, 2010, voters in the Anamosa School District voted down a bond issue that would have funded the construction of a new facility.

The bond referendum required a 60 percent majority to pass and fell short, with 1,046 (49 percent) voting in favor of the measure and 1,084 (51 percent) voting against it.

This is the second time the bond issue failed in Anamosa, when voters in favor were only able to garner 54 percent of the vote in April of 2009.

If it had passed, the bond issue would have allowed the district to raise $15.1 million for a new middle school that could have housed 450 students in grades five through eight.

Jones County Auditor Arnie Andreeson said the measure would have raised property taxes $190 for every $100,000 of residential property.