GAUGING SUPPORT
School district eyes $50M bond proposal, hosting forum soon
Clawson Schools officials are getting ready to host a forum this month to gauge community support for a $50 million bond proposal that would include updating some buildings and likely consolidating others.
A 45-member steering committee has been working on different proposed concepts, which will be presented at a virtual forum at 7 p.m. Nov. 23. Information will be posted soon on the district’s website at clawsonschools.org.
“We’re also going to have a third-party do a survey of the community,” said Jacqueline Johnston, assistant superintendent of business services for the district. “We can use (a bond) to enhance educational opportunities for kids with technology and spaces that are supportive of that. Right now we have a lot more ( building space) than is needed. We want to make the facilities match the number of students.”
One possible option is to create a K-12 campus at the high school and middle school. The board of education and steering committee will weigh in on that issue, pro or con, before any fi nal decision is made.
But there are five other concepts that will be presented during the upcoming forum as well.
There are about 1,400 students in the district.
School officials have said a $50 million bond could be passed next year without raising existing taxes for the school district because of older debt that is declining.
Clawson Schools officials began to talk about seeking a bond after Troy School District officials earlier this year rejected a proposed merger with Clawson.
At the time, enrollment in Clawson schools had declined by about 400 students over the previous decade. The loss in revenues – about $8,500 per student – was taking a $680,000 annual bite out of the district’s $19 million budget.
Teachers took pay cuts and freezes in recent years to help, but despite those sacrifices, and others, school officials projected that the district would not be fi nancially viable within several years. However, Clawson Schools at this point is in a strong financial position, they said in a recent news release.
The steering committee, administrators and the district’s consultants have been meeting regularly to devise a plan to keep Clawson Schools viable and offer good programs into the future.
“It’s crucial that the community is made aware of the challenges the district is facing and a plan to address it,” Johnston said. “We have aging infrastructure that requires attention and have to decide if we would be better off making sure all our (school buildings) are full instead of spending money on facilities that are half full.”
Older buildings in the district need things such as roof repairs, better security for school entrances, heating and cooling improvements, as well as enhancements for technology that students use and the spaces where they learn.
Johnston said that a new plan with a bond opens the door to “right-size” the district’s building space.
“Our kids are not necessarily tied to a specific facility,” she said. “Their top priority is what kind of education they get.”
The upcoming survey and community forum will give school leaders a better idea of what the community wants
“We don’t know where we’ll end up yet,” Johnston said. “What a business person says might be different from what a parent might want. We want to offer a diverse education, so that every student who walks through our doors gets the high- skill education they need for whatever future they choose for themselves.”