By a large margin the school bond issue for the Poplarville Special Municipal Separate School District failed to pass, according to unofficial returns Tuesday evening.

Of the 1,815 votes cast in the 15 precincts of the school district 1,207 or 66.5 percent voted against the measure, while 608 or 33.5 percent voted yes.

Funding measures of this nature require 60 percent of the total votes cast for passage.

There are 7,698 eligible voters in the school district which meant that approximately 23.5 percent of the voters participated in the election.

The bond issue, if passed, would have seen construction of a new K-2 elementary school to replace the aging lower elementary facility and begin a long-range program to eventually locate all grades, K-12, a new location. Some of the funds would also have upgraded facilities at the district’s other campuses.

Neither district superintendent Carl Merritt or school board president Curt Stasny could be reached for comment after the vote but district advisory board member Wayne Alexander termed the results “disheartening.”

That 12-member board had been selected from all areas of the district to assist in planning on the long-range proposal for upgrading school facilities.