Wayland Board of Education member Jeff Moon told his colleagues Monday night that turnout for a second in a series of public sessions on the May 2 bond proposal was the largest yet and he is cautiously optimistic.

The request will be for $49.7 million, a slight increase over the $48.5 million proposal that was turned down in election last August. Assistant Supt. For Finance and Operations Patricia Velie has explained that inflation drove up the price tag and there are added plans to add a community room to the back to the administration building to accommodate growing numbers of the local senior citizens’ group that has outgrown the Transportation Building on Wildcat Drive.

The biggest feature in the bond request again is constructing a new high school pool to replace the 49-year-old facility that many insist has outlived its usefulness. Velie and other school officials have insisted the pool isn’t just for interscholastic competition, but also for community recreation and exercise and for classes to teach children how to swim.

However, repairs and renovations at all school district buildings would be included in the bond project as well.

The bond proposal last August went down by a narrow margin of 225 votes and school officials maintain it’s too important to give up on.

Supt. Tim Reeves told the board Monday night that the next edition of the Green & White publication will be mailed to residents district wide as early as this Friday, and it will include an explanation of what and why the school district is asking for in the proposal.

“Many things are starting to happen as we approach the (election) season,” Reeves said.

In other business at Monday night’s meeting, the board:

• Learned about efforts at the middle school and Baker Elementary to memorialize teachers Jody Tyner and Katrina Brown, both of whom died recently. The middle school student council has organized plans and sponsors for a bench and boulder with a plaque for Tyler. Baker students and staff plan to construct a Brown Book Nook in the school’s library because of her devotion to literacy.
• Learned from Reeves that a joint meeting between three members of both the board and the Wayland City Council will have a joint meeting May 15.
• Approved field trips for Northern Michigan University and for Washington D.C. next fall for middle schoolers.
• Learned from Koons and Reeves that the Wayland High School Student Council’s “Coaches v. Cancer” last week raised the most money ($20,000) of any school district in Michigan.