Signature gatherers in northern Summit County say they’ve garnered enough support to put a bond for a new high school back on the 2026 ballot.
It would be the third vote on more than $100 million in bonds for a new North Summit High School and pool.
The bonds were rejected at the ballot box in 2024 and 2025 before the North Summit Board of Education voted to issue them.
A vote in November could stop the bonds from being issued.
School board members have argued the five-decade-old high school is unsafe and outdated. Lead petitioner and former Coalville mayoral candidate Walter Brock contends the board disenfranchised voters.
“I'm not personally advocating a ‘no’ vote or a ‘yes’ vote. I'm advocating a vote,” he told KPCW. “Currently, we have a ton of effort as far as conversation: loads of people are chiming in on a number of different Facebook groups or in person in regards to concerns, frustrations.”
Brock said his group submitted 1,090 signatures to the Summit County Clerk’s Office Jan. 3.
He estimates that's 300 more than they need to get the $125 million in bonds on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The bonds would be paid back with property taxes. Taxes have been a major issue in northern Summit County, especially after the volunteer fire district transitioned to a paid professional model.
The North Summit Fire District revoked a less than 5% proposed tax increase late last year after hearing concerns from the community.
Brock acknowledged that some of the discourse online has been fiery, with North Summit residents on both sides of the bond issue taking to social media.
One resident, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, claimed his ailing father had signed the petition without fully understanding what it was for after being approached at the Coalville senior center.
Anyone wishing to remove their name from the petition can do so by contacting the Summit County Clerk’s Office and filling out a form.
There’s no option to add your name after the signatures are submitted, which Brock said one commenter thought was unfair.
“There were dozens of people that wanted to sign, but they were out with family or on vacation, and in that [social media post], I think they said something to the effect of, ‘Don't, please don't attack me,’ you know? So there is a visceral level of conflict, let’s say, that we’re working through,” he said. “[Which is] normal in interpersonal dialogue.”
Brock said the tone of some adversarial conversations around town has become more respectful over time. and added that the petition process is the American system at work.
The clerk’s office has until Jan. 24 to certify the signatures he and the other petitioners submitted. It will report results to the North Summit School District, which will certify the petition as sufficient or insufficient for a vote this year.
