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Highland School District’s bond election challenge to go to trial

Highland School District’s bond election challenge to go to trial


A huge new multipurpose gymnasium is among the big-ticket items a $15 million Highland School District bond could pay for. (Reproduced courtesy of Highland Schools.)

A huge new multipurpose gymnasium is among the big-ticket items a $15 million Highland School District bond could pay for. (Reproduced courtesy of Highland Schools.)

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AINSWORTH — Washington County officials say a challenge to the outcome of a $15 million bond vote for the Highland Community School District will move forward in the next few weeks with a trial before a “court of appeals” of interested parties.

The exact composition of that court is currently undecided. In an email to local news outlets Thursday, County Attorney Nathan Repp said Ainsworth City Councilman and school district resident Ron Greiner has been selected to represent the petitioners challenging the election results, while Vice Pres. of the Highland school board, Dan Ruth, will represent “interests adverse to those of the petitioners.”

The two expect to meet and choose a third representative for the appeals court, according to Repp, but if they can’t reach an agreement, state law allows the chief judicial district judge to appoint a third person instead. Once selected, the three will hold a trial to determine whether the flyover should be toppled.

“The probate court will have all district court powers necessary to resolve the matter, including, but not limited to, compelling the attendance of witnesses, taking oaths, and conducting their examination,” Repp said in the email. .

Greiner filed a challenge to the election result after county officials said an unknown number of voters in an Ainsworth precinct received the wrong ballots on Election Day, meaning they either didn’t get a chance to vote in an issue that would shape their property. taxes or voted in elections in which they had no standing.

Election officials said they had no way of determining how many improper ballots were handed out, and therefore said they had no way of knowing whether the issue affected the outcome of the race.

The bond was approved by just 22 votes.

“I just want a fair deal. If it passes, it passes,” Greiner said in an interview shortly after filing the challenge petition. “They thought they could get away without anyone noticing, and I’m trying to be nice about it, but there needs to be another election because it wasn’t done right.”

State code requires the trial to be held within 30 days of its Dec. 12 announcement, according to Repp, but his email did not specify a time, date or location. County Auditor Dan Widmer said he didn’t expect the trail to happen before Dec. 31, but said his office would keep local news updated.

Some advocates have called for Washington County supervisors to overturn the election result during the collocation, but Repp said the board doesn’t have that kind of authority.

“The only connection the county itself has to this case is that the commissioner of this election happens to be the county auditor,” Repp said. “It would be a different circumstance if the county was the taxing authority for this particular bond measure, but it is not. Nothing in this bond measure has anything to do with the county, it’s with the school district and the people in the district.”

The board ultimately voted 4-1 to certify the election result, with Supervisor Marcus Fedler dissenting. Fedler was also among the 29 signatures on Greiner’s petition.

Highland administrators planned to use the $15 million bond for improvements such as a new multipurpose room, secure entrances to the elementary building, new classrooms and upgrades to the high school’s common area. If approved, the loan would be repaid over 20 years with no changes to the current $2.70 debt service fee set by the last bond vote in 2019.

If the appeals court overturns the bond’s approval, the district is expected to return it to voters, though potential election dates have not yet been announced. As educators wait to see how the current challenge plays out, some worry the issue would fare worse without a long-awaited presidential race to boost turnout at the top of the ticket.

“We are now tasked with the challenge of getting all the ‘yes’ people in our community back again,” Crawford wrote in an email to all district staff the morning after the Nov. 5 election, referring to the possibility a reverse result due to errors at the polling place. “I don’t see it as an easy situation for us … I know we can do it, but we’re going to have to focus.”

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