HELENA — While the unofficial ballot results show the over $280 million Helena Public School Bonds passing, Superintendent Rex Weltz says not to expect any dirt to be moved within the next month.
(WATCH: What is next for HPS after unofficial results show school bonds pass?)
"Those that participated and voted no, and those that voted yes - I still am thankful for all people that participated," Weltz said. "It shows that we were engaged."
Superintendent Weltz says the district spent time pre-planning for any of the possible outcomes from election night.
One way they did that was by preemptively bringing on a construction representative, which is Hulteng Consulting, Construction, and Management Inc., to help them secure fair bids.
The district previously worked with Hulteng CCM Inc. on the 2017 elementary bond.
"We need to get architects on soon," said Weltz. "That will be a process of soliciting, interviewing, and approving architects. Really describing what architects will do."
He says that the process of getting bids from architects and approving them usually takes between 12 and 16 months, with another two years for building.
Weltz said, "This will be open to all architects, including all of ours in town and out of state. It'll be competitive."
Some people online have raised concerns about the renovations and rebuilds being over-the-top and not a good use of taxpayer dollars.
"The staff [and] community will have inputs," said Weltz. "So, when we have architects on board and working for the district, we're going to have a lot of community and staff input to what they look like."
Other opponents asked about the possibility of a recount, and while the results are narrow, they are outside the margin that would call for that.
"[It] wasn't too long ago that we lost by about 150 votes in the technology - safety and security," Weltz said. "There wasn't a recount at that point. I trust the system. I trust the system today."
When comparing the results of the last time the district came to voters to this time, Weltz says the district learned a valuable lesson.
"To get out and meet people," Weltz said. "We heard that from our public is that 'Though we may not agree with you in the ask,' they would say, 'We really appreciate the transparency and the trust that you're trying to build by coming to meet with us.'"
