Ventura School leaders have decided to not contest the Dec. 4 vote which left the district one vote shy of passing a $2.7 million bond issue.
    The School Board met with a citizen’s committee which prepared the proposed project and determined it would not challenge the vote in court.
    Last week Cerro Gordo County Auditor Ken Kline met with the co-chairpersons from the polling site in Ventura to follow up allegations that three voters were not allowed to cast ballots and were not given provisional ballots.  Kline then shared his information with Ventura leaders, who in turn spoke with those not allowed to cast ballots.  
    “It was the consensus that all the votes that could have been counted, were counted,” said Ventura Superintendent Dan Versteeg.    
    Versteeg said the School Board and committees working on the school improvement measure will give the issue a rest and likely pick it up again in late January.
    The $2.75 million bond issue would have provided for renovation to the existing high school, along with the addition of new science classrooms.
    The issue, which needed 60 percent for passage, received 59.96 percent of the needed votes.
    Iowa law states the soonest the district could put the issue to another vote would be six months from Dec. 4, or approximately June 4.  However, law also prohibits an election from coinciding with a primary election, which this year takes place June 3.  The earliest the district could have a vote would be three weeks later, or approximately June 24.