Once again, Hallsville voters said yes to a $6.5 million bond issue Tuesday that will pay for brick and mortar projects in the schools there. Voters also gave a big thumb's up to a four-day school week, which will allow that format to be extended for 10 years.
Slightly more than 25% of the community's 5,743 registered voters cast ballots, according to the Boone County Clerk's Office. With 100% of votes counted, 1,082 votes favored the bond issue, Proposition 2, while 359 votes opposed it.
The four-day school week, which the Hallsville School District has used since 2022, was approved with 1,077 votes in favor and 358 opposed. Results were unofficial.
"The passage of both measures allows us to focus on what matters most: safe facilities, excellent staff, and opportunities that improve lives through learning," Superintendent Tyler Walker said in a district statement.
Hallsville School Board President Craig Stevenson said in a district email that both the turnout and the results "reflect the dedication of our teachers, staff, and administrators who work each day to positively impact the lives of our students and families."
The bond issue supports phase two of a larger improvement plan and includes adding classrooms, moving baseball fields, improving parking and traffic flow and adding security doors to the main entrances of the intermediate, middle and high schools.
It is unusual for the Hallsville district to place items on the November ballot, but each measure got caught up in an unexpected circumstance.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the bond issue in April, but the state auditor's office denied its certification in June because Missouri's election notice law was not precisely followed.
A 2024 state law forced the district to take the four-day school week to voters. The law requires in part that districts in communities with more than 30,000 residents ask voters for approval to use the four-day approach. About 235 acres of the Hallsville district is located in far northern Columbia.
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