Fremont school bond fails by wide margin

ST. ANTHONY — A nearly $60 million school bond failed by a large margin in Fremont County on Tuesday night.

Fremont Joint School District 215 sought a school bond of $59,980,000 to create a large multipurpose addition at Ashton Elementary School, which would include a new gymnasium. The bond would have also paid for an auxiliary gym and performing arts auditorium at South Fremont High School, and for the creation of a career technical education space at North Fremont High School. Other maintenance and renovation projects were also part of the proposal.

But voters weren’t having it on Tuesday. The bond required a 66.7% supermajority vote to pass, but only managed to capture 45% of the vote. Unofficial results show a total of 995 people voted in favor of the bond, and 1,216 voted against it.

Also in nearby Sugar-Salem School District 322, a two-year $300,000 per year supplemental levy also failed to find voter approval. The levy, which would have cost $600,000 in total, required a 50% simple majority to pass. It ended up failing with 45% of the vote. A total of 165 people voted for the measure in Fremont and Madison counties, while 205 people voted against it.

EastIdahoNews.com will speak to Fremont School District officials about its plans for the future on Wednesday.