HUDSON – In a dramatic turn Wednesday morning, Hudson School District officials announced that Warrant Article 1, funding renovations and improvements to Alvirne High School, passed – by just one vote.

Tuesday night, town officials read off election results at the Hudson Community Center, ultimately announcing the measure failed.

Early Wednesday morning, though, Town Moderator Paul Inderbitzen went to declare – or make official – the results and discovered a calculation error had occurred.

“To pass, the article had to get three-fifths, or 60 percent, of the vote,” Inderbitzen said. “What we did to calculate the results Tuesday night was use the total ballots cast in the school board election. Instead, we should have used the total ballots cast on just that particular warrant article.”

Overall, 4,160 people voted on the school ballot. On Article 1, yes votes for were 2,391. No votes were 1,592. Those two numbers, added together, equal 3,983. Sixty percent of that is 2,390.

“You could imagine that we were very excited,” said Terry Wolf, the community engagement coordinator for the Hudson School District.

With the approval of the bond, school officials can now move forward on a $17.55 million project to renovate and improve Alvirne High School.

Superintendent Lawrence Russell said the focus of many of the renovations is safety, including improvements to the school’s parking lot and shifting school offices to the front of the building, which he said will make the school more secure.

Other improvements include the addition of a 600-seat auditorium, work on the cafeteria, widening sidewalks, making the school more accessible for those with disabilities and other work.

Alvirne High School was built in 1975, after the old school was destroyed by fire in 1974. Some walls from the original structure are still in use, and will be addressed as part of the project.

Although election results have been declared, Inderbitzen said there may be a possibility of a recount.

“All you need is a petition signed by 10 registered voters for a recount,” he said. “I am anticipating that one (a petition) will be coming.”

“Usually, recounts don’t change results by much, but most of the time recounts are in contested races with candidates,” Inderbitzen added. “There might be a few votes difference, but until we do a hand recount, we won’t know for sure. Hand counting allows us to pick things up off ballots that may have kicked out because they weren’t filled out properly, for example, like someone circling their choice instead of filling it in.”

Once, or if, a petition is filed, town officials will schedule and announce a date for the recount.