New Philadelphia school officials will have to go back to the drawing board.
Voters rejected a 1.5 percent income tax to fund new school buildings by more than 1,200 votes according to final but unofficial results from Tuesday’s election.
61 percent of voters voted against Issue 1 which would have generated $7.2 million a year.
Superintendent Amy Wentworth has said this was likely the only opportunity for the district’s plan to build two new schools on 77 acres just east of city limits. She said the owners will now sell the land privately.
The district could still get about $80 million in state funding if they can pass some sort of tax levy this year. Wentworth says that offer expires at the end of 2026.
She has said the need to build new schools or make millions of dollars in repairs to the existing buildings won’t go away.
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