A special election in Hernando County is taking place Tuesday, and school leaders are hoping voters will pass a half-cent sales tax.

The tax would pay for much-needed repairs to every school in the district. 

School leaders say just about every day something goes wrong at Springstead High School. Like a busted pipe flooding a classroom or another bathroom out of order.

"This is about kids," superintendent Lori Romano said. "This is about the quality of education that we want for our kids in Hernando County."

It is the same story across the school district -- air conditioning systems breaking, roofs leaking, outdated fire alarms, and the list goes on. If passed, about $87 million would go toward upgrading aging school and other district buildings.

Shirley Anderson, Hernando's supervisor of elections, said traffic at the polls has been slow and steady, but the mail-in ballot numbers are good.

"We have mailed out around 25,000 and to date, we have had a little over 15,000 back," said Anderson. "We are processing probably another thousand that arrived today."

Maintenance money has dried up over the years and much-needed repairs have been put off again and again.

"Those are significant, significant needs," Romano said. "You can't run a school without a school being safe. You just can't do it and we won't do it."

School leaders say every school in the district needs work done and millions of dollars are needed to pay for it.

That's why a special election has been set up. School leaders are hoping voters will restore a half-cent sales tax that expired last year. It's just a start as officials say the district needs more than $87 million to pay for everything.

"When all the resources are gone, there is not much you can do, and we are pretty much there," said Carmine Rufa, principal at Springstead. "That's why we need this half-cent sales tax."

"We are better than aging buildings and leaky roofs," said Romano. "We are better than that, and we owe it to our children."

If voters give the sales tax the OK, it would generate about $8.5 million a year. The money could only be used for school maintenance and improvements. School leaders say if it doesn't pass, there could be severe budget cuts on the horizon.