U.S.

The Votes Are In: Sandy Hook Elementary Will Be Torn Down

By Bill Chappell

Published October 6, 2013 at 9:36 AM CDT

Voters in Newtown, Conn., have approved a plan to use nearly $50 million in state funds to demolish Sandy Hook Elementary and build a new school in its place. This photo provided by Craig Hoekenga shows his son Trey, a kindergarten student at Sandy Hook, on the school bus this year. The window has a quote from the late principal, Dawn Hochsprung, who was killed in last December's mass shooting.

In a referendum marked by a large turnout and an emphatic result, the people of Newtown, Conn., have voted to demolish Sandy Hook Elementary and build a new school. Sandy Hook was the scene of a mass shooting last December, when 20 children and six staff members were killed.

Saturday's vote asked citizens to decide whether to take nearly $50 million in state money to fund the demolition of Sandy Hook and the planning and construction of a new school on essentially the same site.

"The vote was 4,504 yes to 558 no. The registrar of voters said Saturday's referendum had the highest voter turnout the town has seen since the 2008 presidential election," reports the News Times.

"I thought it was going to pass by at least 80 percent, but it's more like 90 percent. It's time to bring our children home," Selectman James Gaston Sr. tells the Newtown Bee.

Since the attack, former students of Sandy Hook Elementary have been attending school in nearby Monroe, Conn.

"This was another hurdle overcome," Board of Education Chair Debbie Leidlein tells the Bee. "Now we're ready. We've got great plans moving forward to bring our families home."