AUSTINTOWN Bond issue recount shows it failed by 17

AUSTINTOWN -- A 3.9-mill, 26-year bond issue for the Austintown schools has failed by 17 votes, according to the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
On Tuesday morning, the board conducted a recount of the ballots cast for and against the bond issue in the Nov. 6 general election. The recount shows that 5,425 Austintown residents voted against and 5,408 residents voted for the issue.
Unofficial results from the general election showed the bond issue failing by 38 votes. When walk-in and provisional votes were added to the totals by the board, the issue was failing by just 19 votes.
That is less than 0.5 percent of the total number of votes cast for and against the issue. As a result, state law required the board to conduct the recount.
Austintown Superintendent Richard Denamen said he expects the board will place the bond issue back on the ballot for May's primary election.
The bond issue would allow the board to borrow $32 million to pay for the construction of a new junior high school and the renovation of Frank Ohl Middle School. The new junior high school would replace Austintown Middle School, which was built in 1916 and is in need of repair.
Denamen noted that the construction plans also would create room for all-day kindergarten classes in the district.