Residents are going to the polls for a third time to address future elementary facility needs in the Cedar Falls School District.

The Board of Education has set April 5, 2016, as the date for a $32 million bond issue. If approved, money generated from the referendum would finance the construction of a seventh elementary school and pay for improvements at two existing buildings.

Voters have twice rejected measures to finance the proposed construction projects. A massive $118 million bond issue, which included funding for a new high school, failed on Sept. 9, 2014, while a scaled-back $35 million referendum, which focused only on elementary school improvements, fell short of passing on June 30, 2015.

In April, voters will be asked to approve essentially the same plan that they rejected last year. However, the new bond issue is $3 million less. The district plans to use funding from other sources to make up the difference.

District officials want to build a new 500-student elementary school in southwest Cedar Falls, where the population is growing. Passage of the referendum also would finance upgrades at North Cedar and Orchard Hill elementary schools.

The bond issue requires a 60-percent super-majority to pass.

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