On Wednesday evening, the Lapeer Community Schools (LCS) Board of Education convened for a special meeting to discuss next steps related to the most recent school improvement bond proposal. After discussion, the Board voted unanimously to re-submit the proposal to appear before district voters on November 8, 2022.

The specifics of the proposal, which failed by 57 votes out of more than 11,000 cast on August 2, will remain largely intact from the original version. If the bond passes, the current tax rate would reduce from 2.75 to 2.65 mills and the District would maintain the lowest tax rate among the county’s five public school districts.

The zero-tax-increase proposal is a continuation of the current millage rate (with a slight decrease) for nine additional years. Passage would allow the District to address both long-term and critical needs that have accumulated over the years since the last successful bond proposal passage in 2007 (also a zero-tax-increase bond).

This bond would provide approximately $44 million in funding for improvement projects across the District (increased security, new paving, roofs, heating and cooling improvements, etc.).

“For us, this is a second chance to make our case to the voters in the District,” said LCS Board of Education President Summer Putnam. “The District has critical needs that require significant funding that cannot be achieved without the approval of voters. We need everyone to fully understand the size and scope of our needs.”

On August 2, 5,687 voters approved of the proposal, the largest number to approve of a bond proposal in the history of the District.

“We were so close to meeting so many of our long-overdue facility needs, we feel like we have to make one final push,” Putnam said. “It’s really now or never.”

For more information, visit LapeerBond.com.