(Bloomberg) — Hoboken residents were rejecting a $241 million bond measure to build a new high school in a special election Tuesday, one of the costliest school construction referendums in New Jersey history.
The bond was failing 66% to 34%, with 35 out of 42 precincts reporting, according to unofficial results posted by Hudson County Tuesday night.
Hoboken officials proposed the new school to address the city’s population growth, among the fastest in the state. Enrollment in the city’s public schools grew 27% over the last decade. For kindergarten to fifth grade students, where capacity pressure is the tightest, enrollment grew 57%.
“The community has sent a resounding rejection for the proposal,” said Pavel Sokolov, who helped organize opposition to the bond. “There are enrollment capacity issues and academic issues in our town that need to be addressed. We fully intend and plan to be involved in the conversation.”
Read more: Hoboken Seeks $241 Million School With Ice Rink, Rooftop Field
Plans for the school, which would have a capacity of about 1,200, feature amenities including a rooftop football field and an indoor ice rink. At full capacity, the cost would be more than $200,000 per student.
“While the will of the voters has made it clear that the Board of Education’s current proposal for the new high school will not move forward, I sincerely believe that the effort to improve our public schools will continue,” Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a statement.
A 30-year bond with an interest rate of 2.2% would have funded construction, according to the Hoboken school board’s plans. The district estimated a roughly 6% increase in property taxes for residents to help cover the cost. For a two-bedroom apartment with an assessed value of $778,000, that translates to about $726 yearly.
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