POCOLA, Okla. (KFSM) — A school bond issue in Pocola fell just short of the 60% of votes needed to pass on Tuesday (Mar. 5).
The proposition was billed as not raising taxes and asked voters to approve using $425,000 to buy five new school buses and to also make updates to the fleet.
It did not pass with 203 (57%) for and 156 (43%) against.
One local family says the older busses take a long time to warm up and have even broken down.
"Last year we were driving down the highway or whatever, and we were going to turn, the bus wasn't going that fast, brake just stopped working... to where our coach has the bus driver hurry up and pull over, so none of us got hurt," said Pocola student Chris Pugh.
Pocola Superintendent Lawrence Barns says at the upcoming school board meeting they will talk about whether or not to put the bond issue back on a future ballot.
Barns says even though it failed, that doesn't mean the transportation issues have disappeared.
Click here to view the election results.