Asked if she supported putting up a smaller bond to vote, Chrissy Prete, the school board's vice president, said: "I'm not putting it up again. There's no way. This was it. This was the bottom line."
"I think that if this community really wants to get Main Street revitalized and turn the page and increase the value of the community, they need to wake up," said board member Tim Griffing.
Their comments came immediately after the final tally revealed 2,274 of the 3,659 taxpayers who showed up to vote rejected the proposal.
The still unofficial count saw 1,385 people, or just under 38 percent of voters, in favor of the project.
"The people that voted yes were voting with their hearts," said school watchdog Laurie Downs, who opposed the plan. She was also the only non-school employee to stay late Tuesday to see the results of the referendum.
"This is a time when everyone needs to come together," Ms. Downs said. "The community needs to come to a consensus of exactly what we want and how we want it."
The $123 million plan called for 53 additional classrooms and included major renovations in every building, as well as new ball fields at the district's main campus, which stretches north of Pulaski Street. The Roanoke Avenue school would have been shuttered and converted into administrative offices.
School officials said the construction would have raised property taxes from $200 to $250 per year over 23 years for a home valued at about $400,000.
"I didn't feel the burden should be put on the people of Riverhead," said Richard Tavano, a retired engineer from Calverton who cast a no vote. Although Mr. Tavano, 71, said he understood the need to improve school infrastructure, he also believes the proposal could have been slashed by $20 million to $30 million.
He said he hopes the next plan will cut out "wasteful spending."
"I felt and still feel that it was a mixture of what was needed and what was wanted and nice to have," he said. "I hope the board comes back with a sharper plan."
Roanoke Avenue reading teacher and Jamesport civic leader Georgette Keller, who voted for the project, said she was saddened to learn the bond vote did not pass.
"I looked at it as an investment in our future," she said.
Ms. Keller, 46, who has two daughters at St. Isidore School who will soon attend Riverhead High School, believes the proposal was fiscally responsible.
And while she understands taxpayers' reluctance to shoulder an additional financial burden, she believes residents sent the wrong message to the district's children Tuesday.
"How do we expect our kids to value their education if we don't provide them with adequate facilities?" she said.
Superintendent Diane Scricca, who led a big effort over several months to sell the plan to taxpayers, said she didn't think it was beyond the community's reach. "I'm extremely disappointed, our children needed this," she said. "I thought it was a solid proposal, but obviously the community didn't. Life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. We will have to decide the next step."
There are 23,066 registered voters in the Riverhead School District. The 176 absentee ballots were not immediately counted because they could not sway the results.
tgannon@timesreview.com