After the $70 million bond proposal failed by 289 votes in February, Oxford Community Schools went back to the drawing board to work out a new plan.
At the June 8 school board meeting, a potential $31.5 million bond proposal was presented for discussion. It would be split into two ballot questions ? one for $30.9 million and a second for $574,352.
‘There are four things we focused on for this project,? said Superintendent Dr. William Skilling. ‘One is addressing roof and mechanical repairs ? things we know we won’t be able to do in the budget. The others (are) technology and infrastructure upgrades, safe and secure (school entrances) and capacity.?
Together with the district’s administration and steering committee, the Lansing-based Granger Construction, which would oversee the project, reworked the previous plans and structured the new proposed bond around what could be generated in bond proceeds with no millage increase to taxpayers.
‘We are not minimizing on concerns,? said Skilling. ?(We’re) looking at what we need and where to cut. Do we need less technology? Do we need less security??
While many things were either scaled back or eliminated completely, some things, like technological upgrades, remained unchanged because they’re considered priorities.
‘Twenty-eight percent is in technology,? said Ben Schneider, of Granger Construction. ‘It is the same amount we had in the 70 million proposal. We took a step back and said technology is a priority.?
Another priority was repairs, replacements and improvements to aging building infrastructure such as roofs, doors, windows and mechanical systems.
‘Anything that’s a basic bone to the building,? Scheider said. ‘It’s going to be many years until you can generate bond proceeds for improvements like these.?
Each school would receive a safe and secure entry addition at the main entrance of the building, mechanical and electrical infrastructure upgrades, roof replacement (some schools will have their entire roof or part of the roof replaced), building-wide security systems, building-wide technology equipment and infrastructure upgrades, and corridor upgrades to accommodate infrastructure improvements to all schools with the exception of Oxford Middle School.
Each school would receive changes designed for their school based on today’s needs and possible future needs.
‘Another thing we worked on was doing things in a way that was both modular and scalable,? said Skilling. ‘What I mean by modular is that we don’t have to go back and undo something we did if it happened. Also, the sense of being scalable is to grow in some of the buildings and grow if we need to in all the locations.?
Skilling said minor changes will be made to the proposal before the school board votes Aug. 24 on whether or not to place it on the Nov. 3 -ballot. ‘The architect and administration are tweaking it a little bit,? he said.
The district is trying for a bond one more time because it is the last year they can without raising the tax millage.
‘Property values go down every year,? said Skilling. ‘It could be at least 10-12 years (before) we can try again without raising taxes.?
The board invites everyone to come and share their input during their work session meetings, every fourth Monday of the month, June 22, July 20 and August 24.
Elementaries
Most of the construction would be done on Oxford Elementary School. The school currently has 13 classrooms and Granger Construction looked at several options for classroom expansion as well as adding a playground, changing the current bus loop and parking lot.
Right now, the plan is to add five new classrooms, 900 square feet each, to OES, plus a resource room in the south wing. Additional space would be added to the kitchen, 900 square feet, and the main office, 1,200 square feet.
The plans include reworking the parking lot so that staff parking would be along the south side of the building while visitor parking would be along the front of the building with a new entrance and 67 spaces in total.
A new bus loop would be created on the north side of the building.
Two new playground areas, a new hard blacktopped area with basketball hoops and a new ball field, would be constructed along with a new fence line to enclose them.
Clear Lake Elementary would see the addition of four new 1,200-square-foot classrooms to its building. It’s hoped that in the future this would become a kindergarten wing.
The addition would add 100 students to the school’s capacity, increasing it from 500 to 600.
‘When you consider the alternatives . . . that carries much more flexibility for the future,? said Skilling.
Under the last bond proposal, Lakeville Elementary was supposed to receive a large addition. That’s not the case this time around.
The revised bond plan would add 500 square feet for a safe and secure entrance, then reconfigure and reuse school’s existing space. Four classrooms on the south end of the building are re-configured. The plan creates two resource rooms and a small hallway using existing space. The art room would be moved to the west side and a music room would be installed in a room next to it.
They also worked out space for a pre-kindergarten program in an old area adjacent to the west side of the gym.
The large addition planned for Leonard Elementary in the failed bond proposal has also been eliminated.
This time around it would have a safe and secure entrance constructed, new exterior doors installed and a music room created.
Daniel Axford (DA) Elementary would undergo only a few changes. The proposal would take one of the school’s existing 19 classrooms and turn it into a music room.
The safe and secure entry for DA has not yet been designed, but ideas include reworking of the existing main office, where visitors would have to go into the main office before going into the main hallway. The previous bond proposal called for creating two offices.
Middle/High school
Oxford Middle School will get a new back-up new electrical generator.
Site work will be done in the field between the middle school and Lakeville creating a new grass field with a track around it, a scoreboard and sound system, a storage building, bathrooms, and a new field access with bleachers added later.
At Oxford High School, the current CAD and shop rooms will be renovated and become the pre-engineering program.
Boiler system upgrades would be done along with the construction of a safe and secure entry with one main entrance instead of the two currently used.
Site work would be done to improve drainage at the athletic field. The track surrounding the football field would be resurfaced.
Bus garage
With the limited funds this time around the only thing that will be done is work on the roof. ‘It is no place for a bus garage,? said Skilling. ‘So why put money into something we have to move offsite. At this point we wanted to put in what we needed to maintain the facility. Money for roof and that’s it.?
Another bond proposal
A second $574,352 proposal will be added to the ballot to install artificial turf at the football field and build a 1,000-square-foot storage building for sports equipment.
The cost to maintain the current grass field is $40,000 a year. The artificial turf, which would cost the district $375,000 to install, is estimated to cut the maintenance costs down to less than $5,000. ‘We are saving money and providing usage,? said Skilling.
In addition to the football team using it for Friday games, the artificial turf would allow other sport teams like soccer and lacrosse to use the field for games and practice.
Another perk is Oxford Twp. Parks and Rec. will be able to use the field for their sports.