SAUGATUCK, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Will it be a “strike three, you’re out” or “third time’s the charm” for Saugatuck schools?
In order to ensure the latter and prevent the former, the Saugatuck Board of Education has retained the Lansing-based pollster EPIC/MRA to canvas the Lakeshore community after bond proposals for facility upgrades and renovations have gone down to defeat in the past two years. Dr. Tim Travis, school superintendent, is aware of the pitfalls of continually going to the voters, but the needs of the district are too compelling to not keep asking for approval of a request that had been trimmed from over 50 million dollars in 2018 to nearly 40 million this past May.
“We really need to do a good job of listening,” Dr. Travis explained during a Monday interview on “WHTC Morning News,” “of seeking to understand, and then letting that feedback help in forming the (district) facility committee’s work.”
Another bond request won’t come until next spring at the earliest; Saugatuck schools will be asking voters on November 6th to approve renewals of the current 18-mill non-homestead levy and a quarter-of-a-mill tax for public recreation for a three-year-long period.
