Guest Column: Please vote yes in the May 2 election

by Erin Stepek

Please vote yes May 2 for our students and the community. 

My family was attracted to Wayland as we searched for homes in 2020 for two reasons: proximity to our jobs in both the Grand Rapids area and Kalamazoo, and the strong reputation of its school system. As a teacher myself, I knew that Wayland Union Schools offered our two children the right balance of academic opportunity and personal connections. We valued the district’s strong curriculum and test scores, along with facilities that appeared from the outside as updated and modern. 

Since then, our children learned and grew and made friends in their new schools, and we have been impressed with the dedication of the teachers and school staff through an especially challenging time. We are pleased with the Wayland Union district and with our choice to buy a home here.

So, we were eager to join the facility tours offered during the 2022 bond issue. I especially wanted to see the high school to gain a sense of where my children would eventually attend. Though most of the high school is beautiful — modern and functional for what students need in today’s education environment — it was surprising to learn that the music classrooms more closely resembled the school’s original 1970s spaces. 

• ○  The music classrooms were bursting at the seams and the space simply was no longer adequate.
  
• ○  The band and orchestra teachers had to wear hearing protection during class because the decibels in the room aren’t safe
  
• ○  The ventilation system is original to the building — no air conditioning or windows in those spaces!
  As the tour progressed, it was clear that the industrial technology and pool areas were equally aging and in need of renovation.
  Studies show that students are more likely to value their education and feel valued themselves when their learning spaces reflect the community’s investment in them (Lafortune & Schönholzer 2018). For this reason it was so disappointing that the August 2022 bond issue failed by just under 250 votes. My family moved from an area where it was practically unheard of for a bond not to pass — district residents understood the value in investing in their schools. So we were relieved to know that the community would have another opportunity to vote yes in May 2023 and send the message to our students that we support and value them and their learning environments.
  Our yes vote in May makes sense for many reasons:
  

● Wayland Union Schools’ millage rate is solidly in the middle compared to surrounding districts. At only 8.4 mills, we enjoy a lower school tax rate than Otsego, Hopkins, Plainwell and Thornapple-Kellogg.

●  The May 2023 0-mill bond request will NOT increase our tax payments but WILL generate the resources needed to provide our students in all buildings with the safe and modern spaces they deserve.

●  All of the proposed facility expenditures are necessary to continue Wayland Union’s strong reputation of educational quality, from middle school roof and windows, to a functional community pool, to ADA-accessible bathrooms for our differently-abled students, to modern tech ed and music spaces.

●  Kicking this “infrastructure improvements can” down the road only increases the eventual costs of renovation and repair.

●  Shuttering a crumbling pool would be a backward step for the district and would contribute to a decrease in home values.
Keep in mind that for many families, a strong and supported school district is the KEY factor in looking at buying a home in a certain area. Prospective parents and residents look to buy in a district with updated, modern facilities — especially when the surrounding districts already have comparable or better structures.

We want Wayland Union to be a destination district, which in turn increases all of our property values.

I’ve read the criticisms of some community members who want to vote no because of (long) past negative experiences with WUS. But there is fresh leadership in place and the students of today need us. Do we really want our community’s children to have LESS opportunity than the students of 50 years ago? Let’s focus on moving forward as a district, not back. Let’s show our kids how they are valued. They are worth it. On May 2nd, vote yes!

— Erin Stepek, Wayland resident