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Rumors Spur Mansfield Voters To Pass Mansfield Referendum

The Blue Ridge bond proposal just barely passed Tuesday night.

The proposal failed in two of the major voting areas in the Blue Ridge district, including DeWitt County, however, Mansfield, located in Piatt County, voted heavily in favor of the proposal. Rumors swirled of basing all the schools in Farmer City, and Superintendent of the Blue Ridge district Susan Wilson feels that drove the Mansfield voters to go out and support their schools.

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One other factor that may have pushed the proposal over the top to pass is the recent news of lower bond rates. Wilson notes the bond rates were not dropping by partial percentages but whole percentages, which had huge saving implications for tax payers.

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Adding on to the Mansfield Junior High School and bringing down the grade school was a recommendation made to the district around 2005. In preparation to do that, the district began updating the junior high facility, then they last year began making the public aware of their plans for the Jr. High. Wilson explains took what little response they got, which a majority positive, to decide move forward, then a community group passed a petition to put the bond proposal to referendum. But Wilson is thankful the proposal has passed and the district is ready to move forward and hoping to break ground on the project this summer in preparation of having the building next year.

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While the Board of Education looked into it, Wilson says making Farmer City the base for all the areas of the school district was never a real option.

The next step for the district will be making final decisions on designs for the building, put the finishing touches for going out bid, and prepare to break ground in June of this year.

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