RICHMOND, R.I. (WPRI) — There was difference of just three votes in the town of Richmond for a $150 million school bond, but town clerk Erin Liese said there likely won't be a recount.

That's because the bond needed to be approved by all three communities in the Chariho Regional School District, which also includes Charlestown and Hopkinton.

"Our tight margin really doesn't apply because Hopkinton so overwhelmingly rejected it," said Liese. "That margin was large."

On Tuesday, residents in every Chariho community but Charlestown rejected a proposal to use $150 million for three new elementary schools.

But on the same day, South Kingstown approved a separate $150 million bond for a new high school and athletic field. Town Manager James Manni said it was the highest turnout the town has seen for a special election, at 35%.

Superintendent Robert Littlefield said he's "over the moon" about the results and is looking forward to the next steps, which will start with a building committee meeting on Thursday.

"Step one is now to hire a construction manager, someone whose actually going to build the project," he said.

Littlefield said the building committee will also work with an architect to figure out the rest of the plans for the new high school, as well as a timeline.

The new high school is expected to replace a building from the 1950s that Littlefield said is too big and difficult to heat.

"Our students tell stories of having to wear hats and coats and mittens in some classrooms, but having to strip down to T-shirts in other classrooms on the same day," he said.

According to a report from the Rhode Island Expenditure Council, South Kingstown saw the sharpest decline in enrollment in the state between 2019 and 2023, at 18%.

Littlefield told 12 News earlier this week that many students are going to career and technical programs in other districts.

"We have 102 students right now attending other schools in Rhode Island that we're paying for," he said.

Littlefield hopes this smaller, energy-efficient high school with heating and cooling will attract more students to the district.

The votes come as a bump in temporary reimbursement funds are set to expire this year.

Chariho Superintendent Gina Picard acknowledged the loss means the district won't be able to take advantage of the match from the state, but said she still plans to keep discussing improvement projects.

"Our facilities still have the same needs, regardless of the bonuses or not," Picard said. "What that means is that we'll have to think about the work in pieces."

She said that could mean focusing on one school, or just improvements to the main campus.

Picard told 12 News last week that the elementary schools have faced flooding and asbestos problems.

"The challenge is that we have water that starts to shut down some of the classes," explained Chris Kona, a parent whose children went to Richmond Elementary School. "It needs an update. It needs more. There’s a limit to how much we can continue to milk that."

Residents in both school districts raised concerns about the effect the bond would have on their property taxes.

"The taxpayers, especially in Richmond and Hopkinton, have been overtaxed," said Louise Dinsmore, president of the Forgotten Taxpayers.

According to estimates from the town of South Kingstown, property taxes are expected to go up by $318 a year for the average property owner in the town by 2035.

Former town council member Jim O’Neill pointed out that number does not include other potential increases in the town or school budgets.

On Monday, he said he didn't think a new school would actually bring back students.

"It’s very hard to ask people to cough up more money when this is happening," O’Neill said.

But some hope this new high school will be the start of a new legacy.

"I think it’s important for the town," resident Doug Kraus said at the polls Tuesday. "Twenty years from now, you hope the population will increase and the children will come back to the town."

The new South Kingstown High School is expected to open in fall 2027.

Liese said votes will not be certified until after May 14, which is the deadline for overseas mail-in ballots.