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Poland schools have less time to seek voter approval for new school
POLAND
The school board learned Monday that its options for again seeking voter approval of a proposal to build a new school are more limited than originally believed.
The school board cannot bring back a ballot measure in November 2016 asking voters to authorize a $28.3 million bond issue and accompanying tax levies. Sixty-two percent of Poland voters in this year’s general election voted against the ballot measure, which would have allowed the district – in partnership with a state commission that would pay 19 percent of the estimated $35 million cost – to proceed with a plan to demolish old buildings and construct a new K-8th-grade campus-style school.
At issue, Superintendent David Janofa said during a Monday meeting, was a miscommunication about the opening of a 13-month window in which the school district can take advantage of the 19 percent state share.
The partnership with the state began in July, when the state approved a master plan for the project; that master plan changed in October, which school district officials understood to mean that they had 13 months from that point to get the plan approved at the polls. That’s not the case, however, and the district has until August to get the proposal approved.
“It’s too bad, because we really felt a little breath of hope that we had a little bit of time,” said board president Elinor Zedaker.
The remaining options for dealing with facilities appear to be renovations funded by a permanent-improvement levy, or bringing the original ballot measure back during a special election, as the school board has indicated that it is not likely to bring the issue back in March.
Doing nothing with the facilities is not an option, school district officials have said, because of what they have identified as a need for major infrastructure repairs at all school buildings.
No action on the issue was taken at Monday’s meeting.
Another item of discussion Monday was that the number of students who participate in the district’s free and reduced lunch program has decreased. Janofa reported that participation in the program has dropped by 5 percent since last year; 15 percent of the district’s roughly 2,000 students currently are enrolled.
Janofa said he encourages parents to fill out an application, which are available at polandbulldogs.com. He believes that a perceived stigma is partly to blame for the drop in participation.
District officials emphasized that the check-out process in cafeterias is the same for all students, whether they buy their meal at full-price or participate in the program.
The board also passed a resolution of necessity to place renewal of a $1,369,748 operating levy on the March ballot. The millage has yet to be determined.
The board voted to accept the resignation of several personnel, including longtime Poland Seminary High School head football coach Mark Brungard, who announced his resignation after 11 seasons earlier this month.
The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at the township government building, 3339 Dobbins Road. The board also plans to schedule a special meeting before then.