School millage renewed, 3 elected to school board
Two-thirds of Royal Oak Schools district election voters renewed a millage to fund ongoing maintenance and upgrades for school buildings and re-elected the school board president and approved two new board members.
“We have two new board members and they are very qualified,” said Deborah Anderson, the district’s board of trustees president.
The new members are Michelle Cook and Lauren Jasinski. Both of them are Royal Oak Public Library board trustees.
A teacher for 25 years, Cook has a master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University, and a son who is a student at the middle school.
Until taking a career hiatus recently, Jasinski was a teacher at Oxford High School and has a master’s degree in teaching and curriculum from Michigan State University.
Voters picked the three winners in Tuesday’s election from a field of four candidates to serve four-year terms. The contest resulted in a total of 49,381 votes cast. Anderson and Jasinksi each received 28 percent of the vote, and Cook garnered 29 percent, according to unofficial county tallies.
Anderson, A former journalist with a master’s degree from Wayne State University, has served on the school board since 2006.
She said current issues the board will be involved in will include recruiting and retaining more teachers to the school district.
“It’s an important issue in schools across the country,” she said. “So many teachers have left the profession.”
Another pressing issue for Royal Oak and other schools is addressing the learning loss students experienced during the pandemic, Anderson added.
Sixty-six percent of 31,506 voters Tuesday renewed the district’s building and site sinking fund millage for 10 years, according to unofficial tallies.
The 1-mill renewal is expected to generate $3.4 million in funds in its first year. The money will be
used to maintain buildings, improve security, and provide additional instruction technology for students.
Most of the money will be spent on maintenance
of buildings, roofs, parking lot lightings, fencing and other infrastructure.
“I’m really grateful our community supports education and it’s a great thing
for Royal Oak Schools,” Anderson said.
Royal Oak Schools Superintendent Mary Beth Fitzpatrick in a statement Wednesday also thanked voters for their support.
The millage “will allow us to make the repairs needed to make the repairs needed to ensure we maintain facilities to match our great programs,” she said.
While Fitzpatrick has noted money from the tax can’t be used for salaries and benefits, she said it can benefit students.
“This sinking fund will generate money for technology advances in our classrooms and instructional aids for our teaching staff, as well as provide money for safety improvements and more,” she said.
Royal Oak Schools has
nine buildings and more than 1 million square feet of school space that requires ongoing updates and repairs, Fitzpatrick said shortly before the election.
Fitzpatrick on Wednesday thanked school board members Marty Cardamone and Allison Sykes for their commitment to the district. The two outgoing board members chose not to seek re-election.
Charlie Gandy-Thompson, an engineering manager and longtime resident, sought election to the board but lost with about 13 percent of the vote.
Fitzpatrick recognized Gandy-Thompson “for her willingness to serve the district and her dedication to public education by being a candidate.”