By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.– Voters sent a message to the school district when they shut down a “clean water millage” proposal, but the district is keeping the lines of communication flowing.

Following the Aug. 2 election, school administrators sent about 4,000 emails to all parents in the district, containing a link to a survey regarding the vote.

“We needed to know what they were thinking,” said Superintendent Matt Outlaw. “We are gathering information right now and will do a debriefing with the board of education and talk about the next steps… One of the conversations is do we feel the vote is an accurate reflection and we may talk about whether or not to go back to the voters with a different proposal regarding funding of the WWT plant at some point in the future.”

About 400 people responded to the survey, which asked whether parents voted, and if they did, if it was a yes vote or no vote and why. Outlaw said administrators want to understand what the driving forces were in why parents voted no.

The proposal sought 2 mills, for 2 years, to generate $2.2 million for major repairs in the district, including a new wastewater treatment system for the high school and middle school. The Department of Environmental Quality has mandated the district put in a new system by November 2019.

The proposal failed with 1,778 no votes, or 60.77 percent, to 1,148 yes votes, 39.23 percent.

“We need to know in this election, were our parents’ voices heard?” asked Outlaw. “My job is to gather information and that is what I am doing.”

The superintendent will take the information to the board, but said there is no proposal on the table right now to take the issue back to the voters.

“If there is a feeling something would be different on a second round of voting, I am sure it will be considered,” he said. “If we feel the vote would be different, than obviously, it’s something we would consider. We went out the first time because we felt it was an absolute must.”

The survey will not be the deciding factor, he added. Board members are talking to district constituents and also gathering information for an upcoming conversation about the election, likely in the next two months.