The $8 million bond would have addressed improvements districtwide and renovations at Eagle Stadium.
Board member Ruby Quanz said even though the bond failed, the maintenance needs will still have to be addressed.
"We've got roofs that need fixing," she said. "You can't delay that, not without getting the buckets out. The AC will eventually quit - that's something you can't do without."
Quanz said the maintenance department will be asked to review and prioritize the needs and "come up with a game plan."
"I know the community expects us to maintain what we have," she said.
To address the maintenance needs, the board may look at putting more money into the maintenance budget, she added.
The economy might have also played a role in the bond's defeat.
"I don't feel people want their taxes raised at this time," Quanz said. "I think some are fearful of committing that money, even though it may seem like a small amount. People are tightening up."
On the issue of turf, Quanz said it might not be a dead issue, but maintenance items will have to be taken care of first.
"We need to put money in that maintenance budget to care for what we have, so we can then put money toward things we want, like turf," she said.
Turnout for the election was 1,447, or 10 percent, of the 14,237 registered voters in the school district.
The proposition failed by a vote of 883 to 544, or 62 to 38 percent. Of the eight county precincts included in the Decatur school district, only two voted in favor of the bond, and both of those voting precincts had less than 10 people total vote.
Turnout was strongest in Precinct 8, Bethel-Shiloh, where 21.59 percent of the 2,988 voters cast their votes. The precinct voted against the bond by a total of 392 to 245.
