Rankin voters overwhelmingly support $178M school bond issue

BRANDON, Miss. (AP) - Rankin County voters are approving a plan to raise property taxes to finance school improvements.

In a Tuesday referendum, 74 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of the $178 million bond issue, well above the 60 percent approval rate required. The plan won a majority in all but one of the county’s voting precincts.

The proposal will raise taxes by 5 mills, or $50 on a $100,000 house.

The outcome reverses a 2011 vote, when 60 percent of voters in the school district rejected a $170 million bond issue. Mississippi’s third-largest school system, Rankin County includes students from all of the county except the city of Pearl.

The second time was the charm for Brandon resident Paul Buisson, who campaigned against the bond issue in 2011. He told The Clarion-Ledger (https://on.thec-l.com/2nfV4a7) that he approved the issue Tuesday because the proposal addressed concerns he had previously.

(The last one) didn’t have anything to do with the quality of education,” he said. “This time it certainly seems to be related to education and safety.”

Leaders say the money will be used to relieve overcrowding, building a new Northwest Rankin High School and replacing portable classrooms elsewhere. The district, with more than 19,000 students has 99 portable classrooms. Bond money would also pay for safety improvements with the purchase of new security cameras and fire alarms.

Shannon Caraway, a seventh-grade English teacher at Northwest Middle School, said she voted for the bond issue because it means sixth-graders would be able to attend middle school in the Northwest Rankin High zone, instead of remaining in portables at elementary schools.

Since 2011, voters in 14 school districts statewide have approved bond issues, while voters in two others rejected bonds, according to Mississippi Department of Education records.

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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, https://www.clarionledger.com