A $19.25 million bond issue will face Wayland school district voters in a little more than a month and school officials have been preparing for the stretch run of their campaign.
The election will be held from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7. Officials promise the tax rate of 8.4 mills per year, will not be increased. The life of the bond is 24 years and three months.
The third and final public forum was presented Wednesday night to a sparse audience at Pine Street Elementary, with Superintendent Norm Taylor once again outlining just what the money will buy for the students in the district.
Perhaps the most important part of the package being offered is building an addition to the current junior high school on Wildcat Drive, at an estimated cost of $9.4 million. The facility now houses seventh and eighth grades, but starting in the fall of 2019, if the bond is passed, it would include all sixth-graders, thereby helping to relieve overcrowding problems in the lower elementaries.
It’s all part of a plan to have all sixth-graders move out of Pine Street Elementary and make that school open to all fourth- and fifth-graders. That would open Steeby Elementary to second- and third-graders, Baker Elementary to pre-school, kindergarten and first-graders, and Dorr Elementary for pre-school through third grades.
Taylor said Wayland Union has added 57 new students this fall, and the biggest population jump is at Steeby, with 34 newcomers. The district now is estimated to have 3,048 pupils. He points to growth as the result of new housing developments in Leighton Township, regarded as one of the fastest growing townships in all of Michigan.
The superintendent insists Wayland will see an increase of about 265 students over the next five years, and the goal is to be able to avoid overcrowded classrooms.
But that’s not all.
Voters sent a strong message in a failed bond vote last May that they want to keep open Pine Street, even though it is the district’s oldest building at 76 years. So that means repairs and infrastructure improvements are necessary, including replacing the aging elevator, replacing the boilers and cooling system and installing a new intercom and alarm bell system.
Other repairs and improvements include a backup generator at the middle school, installation of air conditioning for the Steeby gymnasium, plumbing and bathroom upgrades at Baker and Dorr, roofing for the high school, asphalt parking lot improvements at the high school and middle school, and a boiler and chiller for the middle school.
The bond also will take care of its most pressing athletic need, 12 new tennis courts to replace the eight- and six-court facilities that have fallen into disrepair. With the one site, the parking lot at the high school will be expanded, noting the lack of parking space, particularly for football and basketball games.
The tennis court project has an estimated cost of $2.25 million and the infrastructure improvements total about $7.45 million, brining the final bond cost to $19.25 million.
Taylor said said the school board will consider local contract bidders very seriously, but promised taxpayers, “We intend to take the lowest qualified bid.”
The superintendent acknowledged that Wayland in recent past years has had more than 3,000 total pupils, but that was before the state mandated special education students be welcomed in local schools rather than at one regional facility and before computer labs began to take over classroom space.
He also maintained that though many believe the Gun Lake Casino’s annual contribution of about $1.5 million could cover the projects, “It would take us 10 years of casino revenue just to come up with enough money to cover the costs of a new swimming pool.” He added that about 45 percent of the casino funding already is tied up in public improvement projects under way.
Wayland school district voters last May rejected a separate bond proposal to build a new pool at the high school and Taylor said the school board will have to consider that issue again soon because the facility is more than 42 years old and prone to breakdowns.
People, we need this! Vote yes for a better school system. This is our schools. Update them please….
Amen to your comment Mike.
So where would the school be without the casino? It’s pathetic how Mismanaged this has all become.