A week after the failure of both a $57.8 million bond and a $5 million levy in the Kimberly School District, trustee Chad Allen said during a board meeting Thursday that he didn’t anticipate the level of anger and frustration from the community.

“I don’t know what the values of the community are,” Allen said.

At the first school board meeting since the May 19 election, the district’s four trustees, superintendent and staff members shared thoughts on what went wrong. But first, several community members addressed the board.

“The people spoke,” Kimberly resident Steve Long told trustees. “Are you listening?”

May 19 was a great day because the community won, Long said. They saw an “irresponsible” bond and defeated it by a 7-1 margin.

The bond needed 67% support to pass, but it only received 14%. It would have paid for a fine arts center and auditorium, a gym, a community field house and new athletic fields.

The plant-facilities levy needed 55% to pass, but received 35%. It would have paid for building maintenance.

Trustee Zachary Kelsey expressed frustration over the lack of feedback the district received over the past two years during bond planning, but also noted the amount the district receives on social issues.

If trustees even said the word “mask” in a meeting, Kelsey said, 100 community members would show up at the next meeting. If they said the word “transgender,” 200 people would show up.

“My biggest falling out of it was not getting any feedback for two years on everything we’re discussing, and then all of a sudden we’re irresponsible,” Kelsey said.

Board Clerk Cassandra Searby said the district received two calls and one email from community members seeking information about the bond.

“That’s something I wish people would do,” Searby said. “Come to the source. Come in and talk to us, call us, email us, come to the source. We are happy to talk to people, but unfortunately, people just want to talk online.”

Trustee Leah Meeks said the district started receiving more feedback after it was too late. Two groups — a long-term planning committee and a building committee — had proposed options for the bond.

“We didn’t have anyone come talk about their feelings on the bond, other than if they were on those committees, until it was on the ballot,” Meeks said. “But once it’s on the ballot, we can’t change it.”

Superintendent Luke Schroeder said there was “deep discussion” on what to put on the ballot. The building committee proposed two bond options and trustees approved the higher figure.

In his 14 years as superintendent, Schroeder said he’s consistently heard from folks who want an auditorium and an expanded sports complex with baseball and softball fields.

“I’ve heard it for years,” Schroeder said.

Allen said people might want those things, but finding funding is the hard part. He said $58 million is an incredible sum of money.

“We had this plan that was brought to us,” Allen said. “We could have just said no.”

As the trustees debated what to put on the ballot, Kelsey noted that the superintendent mentioned several times that he was concerned about running a levy and a bond at the same time.

“Multiple times somebody on the board said the community can separate the two and they’ll see it, and they’ll make it — they’ll pass it,” Kelsey said. “And it didn’t.”

Trustee Emilie Carlson said the election was an example of democracy in action.

Making decisions with taxpayer money without putting it to a vote should outrage a community, she said, and the people were given a voice through the vote.

“Democracy should reign, and that’s what happened,” Carlson said.

Superintendent concerned about “false narratives”

Before Schroeder made it home on Thursday night, he said people were already sending him screenshots from a Facebook group with misinformation about what was discussed at the meeting.

One commenter said the board plans on running another bond in November. But trustees only discussed the outcome of last week’s election. Schroeder told EdNews by phone on Friday afternoon that the board and district staff members are frustrated.

“Now you got people riled up again because of a false narrative that is being spread by a few,” he said.

Schroeder said some people have lost faith in the district and trustees because of misinformation on social media. He said he’s learned that the world has changed and he’s not sure how a district can get out correct information.

“To have this false information or any inaccurate information out to the community is very disheartening,” he said.

It’s not just Kimberly. Schroeder said he’s seen the same thing in districts around the state.

“It seems like we’re just putting out fires constantly,” he said.

In the aftermath of the election, Schroeder said he will stand up for the trustees, who thought they were doing what the community wanted.

“If the worst thing they did was misgauge our citizens by putting it out on a ballot, which is democracy, so that their voice could be heard, I just don’t understand why we’re so frustrated with them over that,” he said.