SAUGATUCK, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – If “information is power,” as the old adage goes, then the Saugatuck School District wants to generate such power for two proposals on the May 8th ballot.
The Lakeshore district is asking voters to approve a 50.7 million-dollar bond proposal for “significant” renovations to Douglas Elementary School and Saugatuck’s joint middle and high school, which would lead to a 1.17 mill increase, and the other is to reestablish a five-year, half-mill sinking fund tax rate that expired at the end of this past year that would go towards infrastructure repair, enhancing school security and upgrading classroom technology.
While public entities cannot by state law stump for passage of any ballot proposal, Saugatuck Superintendent Tim Travis is hopeful that three “informational community forums” will help persuade voters to approve the measures. “We need to share information about why we think this is a good plan,” the new school chief explained. “We’ll be open and transparent about what it costs. It is a large amount of money for this community, larger than what the community has been presented with before, but it also takes care of so many aspects of the district, and it really sets us up well for the next 30 years.”
The first of these forums is tonight at 6:30 PM in Saugatuck High’s south foyer, with the others planned for March 14th at 6 PM in Douglas Elementary School, and on March 22nd at 6:30 PM in the Saugatuck Center for the Arts. More information about the proposals is on the district’s website.
