MONROE — School officials are meeting behind closed doors to determine their next moves, after a group of citizen electors last Monday turned down the district’s planned effort to buy land on 31st Avenue for a new, $88 million high school. 

The move came after a meeting to finalize the land purchase last week. And it also came as something of a surprise, as most officials expected the vote to approve it to be routine, given the smooth passage of the overall referendum question last November.

But opposition to the purchase developed before the meeting of electors and continued to build on Facebook and other social media, culminating in last week’s ‘no’ vote. Residents of the district complained about unexpected increases in the school’s share of taxes on recent bills, largely attributable, officials have said, to a marked rise in equalized assessed valuation across the district.

Still other citizens felt deceived by early pronouncements from the district about the impact of the project on tax bills.

Early on, officials estimated the tax impact, or mill rate, for the district would be at $9.33 — just $0.13 higher per $1,000 of tax value than the 2021-22 school year’, and less than the previous 35 years before that. Under that scenario, the district’s tax rate would increase $13 per year on a $100,000 home, $26 a year on a $200,000 home, or $52 a year on a $400,000 home.

Now many say the actual cost impact will may be higher, as their property values rose markedly. 

“I’m guessing they won’t address why everyone’s taxes went up way more than what was stated,” said one poster to social media, after the district published its latest update on its Facebook page.

Figueroa said he plans to address that issue specifically in the days and weeks ahead. 

“The unexpected increase is related to new referendum debt and is not generating additional dollars for the public school district outside of the revenue limit and referendum debt,” Figueroa said on Wednesday.

But taxes were only one of several issues apparently fueling opposition. 

“Discussion at Monday’s meeting included traffic and road access in the area specifically pick up and drop off with Northside Elementary school and the new high school being in close proximity,” he said, following last week’s vote. “Homeowners in the area had concerns about their property values, storm water mitigation, possible additions of curb and gutter, and placement of buildings. There were questions about the elevation changes and perceived challenges with earth moving.”

Voters in November approved the $88 million referendum that also calls for extensive renovations to Lincoln Middle School. The high school was built in 1958 and suffers from major drainage, structural and water seepage issues. 

The district’s most recent closed session on the matter was last Tuesday.

“When the Board of Education is able to determine the property which best suits the needs of the district and community, based on availability, location, and costs, it will be announced and a meeting will be scheduled as a Class 2 Notice at least 14 days prior to the meeting date,” he said.

Figueroa also said he remains optimistic that officials will find a way to get the project done.

Meanwhile, just as the district is working to educate voters on its big plans, the district’s YouTube channel is under suspension, meaning citizens can’t watch current school board meetings, new sporting events, or other School District of Monroe content from home.

The YouTube action was attributable to a major increase in traffic around MHS’ successful bid for a state Division 3 football title earlier this month, said officials.

“The answer we received (from YouTube) was they thought we increased viewership with bots,” Figueroa said, adding that school officials are working to restore the district’s online content.