The $13.1 million renovation project proposed by the Delphi Community School Corp. for the middle and high schools was soundly defeated in a referendum Tuesday. The merits of the project, as well as the cost over the course of a 20-year bond period, were debated since the board adopted the plans for the project last November.

According to county clerk Nancy Mattox, 1,011 ballots were cast out of a possible 5,832 voters. Unofficial results from voting machine tabulations indicated 403, or 39.98 percent, of all ballots were cast in favor of the project and 605 or 60.02 percent were cast against the project. There were three under-votes.

Mattox explained the preliminary results were considered "unofficial" because a legal notice for a public test of the voting machines was not filed in a timely manner. Ballots were hand-counted.

School board president Robert Resler was present for the results and expressed disappointment in the outcome.

"First of all, I would like to say that this is not a loss for the school board or the superintendent," he said after the unofficial results were revealed. "The only losers are the children and the taxpayers. The children are losers because we cannot make the needed repairs that have been put off too long and we will be limited in providing for better educational opportunities in the future."

Resler said the school corporation would be unable to accomplish any building renovation under the current circuit breaker. He said a $9 million project would be funded not from just corporation patrons but all county taxpayers. He said the matter would not likely be discussed at the special school board meeting June 29 but expected a discussion after the board elected new officers in July.

Patron Kirk Schwarzkopf, who did not support the cost of the project but did support the stated need for renovations, was also present when the voting results were announced.

"I think it's a great nation that we can come and vote without persecution but still have an opinion that does not always agree with everyone else," he said. "I don't feel that this is a loss for the kids. I think this is an opportunity for the school board and administrators to develop a project under the circuit breaker that would benefit the students with respect to the taxpayers' vote."