“Safer, Smarter Stronger! Facility needs, student safety, improved learning environments, additional classrooms for Weston Elementary and a 500 seat auditorium—all with no tax rate increase!”
There are a lot of catchy words with little details in Imlay City Schools’ bond proposal promotions.
We voted down an auditorium proposal once before because it’s not needed and a waste of tax payer money.
I’ve been an Imlay City Schools tax payer since 1975 and have never been polled for my opinion on anything school-related.
What we do need is major funding and staffing in the overwhelmed special education department.
If you want to build a building, let’s get a greenhouse to teach gardening, vegetable growing and landscaping. The construction trade is screaming for good workers and the restaurant industry is exploding. Apprenticeship programs are everywhere but the high school needs to provide the basics. We need students who can work with their hands and think.
Please turn the lights back on in the library, fix the special education program, reinstate shop and home economics classes, build more classrooms and fund building repairs.
We need prepared students, not luxurious buildings.
—Mark F. Cromas,
Imlay City
Editor’s note: Imlay City Schools Superintendent Dr. Stu Cameron offers the following response to Mr. Cromas’ questions and suggestions.
Throughout its informational campaign the school district has provided specific details about the bond proposal on their website www.icschools.us. Unfortunately, it is difficult to provide all of the bond information on a single post card or mailing.
Last spring, the district hosted a number of forums to collect feedback, and on September 10 ran an open forum for all community members. There we were able to answer questions and solicit feedback from them. We invite residents to call or email if they need additional information or have questions. Everything we propose has been in public view, and we want to assure that it stays that way. In regard to what we provide students, we continuously evaluate our curriculum in both general and special education and adjust as necessary. It should be of note, that no bond revenue can be used for salaries, benefits, legacy costs, or operational costs of the district. Funds can be used for infrastructure like technology and equipment that improves learning, and our special education program, as well as all of our general education programs, would be the beneficiaries of the passage of the proposal.
The district is working to generate more “hands on” programming than ever before. The bond proposal would provide equipment, technology and furnishings to upgrade our libraries to include Maker’s Spaces for this purpose. We are fortunate to have excellent career and technical education programs in construction, mechatronics, auto body, engine repair, and other practical trades through our partnership with the Lapeer County ISD.
Currently 513 secondary students and 845 elementary students are engaged in Arts offerings ranging from concert band, wind ensemble, marching band, drama, and choir to art, design and video production. While the focus is truly academics, we believe a performance space will also benefit local businesses and the larger community as a whole.
Beginning next week, we will provide another vehicle through which residents can ask questions and express their opinions. We will prominently post a survey on our website for this purpose, and welcome your feedback. Simply go to www.icschools.us and click on the survey link.
