The campaign for the Wayland Union schools’ bond issue May 2 has begun in earnest. Subcommittees have been formed, informational sessions are being planned and there is a wealth of information on line and in the schools.
The Wayland Board of Education heard a lot about the two bond proposals and received a progress report from Jennifer Antel about the work of four subcommittees.
Proposition 1 has an estimated cost of $34.1 million. If passed, it would enable construction of a new elementary building near the Transportation Building, pay for an addition to the middle school to accommodate sixth-graders, and put up for sale the 75-year-old Pine Street Elementary.
Proposition 2 includes a cost of about $20.845 million. Its passage would result in a new swim pool at the high school, new tennis courts and repairs for the football field with artificial turf. Also part of the package will be a new auto tech, computer aided design (CAD) and robotics space that would replace the aging and costly old pool. The high school orchestra and band program then would move into the place vacated by auto tech and CAD.
Superintendent Norm Taylor once again said the most important driving factor for making the requests is the overwhelming evidence of school district growth. He noted student enrollment has increased by 185 over the last five years and he and other school officials anticipate the population to exceed 3,000 next year.
He said accountant Michael Tanksley has suggested the schools’ numbers will increase by more than the anticipated 25 next year, but, “We want to budget on the conservative side.”
Taylor said a large addition at the Hunter’s Glen Mobile Home Park in Moline, the fact Leighton Township is the fastest growing township in Michigan, favorable numbers in School of Choice and kindergarten numbers that are larger than graduating class numbers are huge factors in expecting growth.
The superintendent said Wayland has hired seven additional teachers in the last couple of years.
“Our preschool programs at Dorr and Baker (elementaries) are expanding,” he added. “We’ve had to add probably six to seven more classrooms for all-day every-day kindergarten.”
The school district is distributing brochures and provides extensive information on its web site. Thus far, the most commonly asked question in response is why the schools don’t just use funding from the Gun Lake Casino, which amounts to about $1.5 million a year.
Just for the pool, “It would take 10 to 12 years, even if we spent every penny (of casino money),” Taylor explained.
Antel told board members the four citizens’ subcommittees that have been formed focus on four areas — finance and fund-raising, voter registration, media and publicity and neighborhood outreach.
She said the group next will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 1, at the Transportation Building. They will meet every Wednesday evening afterward until the bond election is held.
ART WORK: The school district has been sending out art work asserting the local school population is growing, which creates the needs of new and updated facilities.
This artist’s rendering is of the proposed new pool at the high school.
