WEST ALLIS – Voters in West Allis say they’re showing up to vote on Tuesday because of an important school referendum which is on the ballot.
If approved, that referendum would close both high schools (Nathan Hale High School and Central High School) and “reuse the Nathan Hale High School building to create a new, merged comprehensive and modern high school,” according to the West Allis West Milwaukee School District’s website.
The district says that building a new high school and combining students there would be more cost-efficient than upgrading and maintaining the two existing buildings.
Carroll Palmer is a voter in West Allis who showed up to cast her ballot on Tuesday. She tells WTMJ she thinks the money can be better spent elsewhere.
“My feeling is, take that almost 150 million dollars, split it in half, do the minimum upgrades that you have to do to the buildings, take the rest of the money and pay the teachers,” Palmer said.
Despite her reservations about the proposed referendum, Palmer said she expected it to pass.
“I think it’s going to go through. Unfortunately,” Palmer said.
Another voter who was leaving the polls said that the referendum weighed on her mind as she cast her ballot.
“Yup, absolutely. It was big on our minds,” the woman and her husband said.
As of about 9:30 a.m., a little more than 130 people had showed up to cast a ballot in person.
The polls will remain open until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.