GLADSTONE, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Gladstone Area Public School District is asking voters to consider two millage proposals they will see on their ballots in May.
“The Gladstone School District has had two millage votes in the last few years that did not pass,” said Marge Noreus, co-chair of advocacy group Brighter Braves Future. “Last summer, they started with a focus group. They were bouncing the idea, ‘Should we try a third millage? What kind of dollar amounts do we think the community would be willing to support? What kind of time period?'”
That focus group resulted in the two proposals on the May 6 ballot. One would cover an additional multi-use facility at the high school.
“That would be all sorts of sports groups, different interest groups,” said Brighter Braves Future committee member Brooke Perry. “When that’s not used by the school, then that’s open to the community for use as well.”
The other proposal encompasses several projects across all the schools, including modernized security systems, parking lot and roofing upgrades, and the construction of another multi-use room at Cameron Elementary.
“We’re standing in what is the cafeteria and the gymnasium at Cameron,” Perry explained. “In order to balance serving lunch to all of the students and then being able to provide them physical education in the afternoons, it can be really tight to try to schedule all of those things. This is also where kids could potentially be if there is indoor recess, but a lot of times there’s not enough time to flip over the space so the kids are in the classroom for that indoor recess time. There’s also other programs that utilize this facility, such as reading buddies.”
The proposal also includes four new early education classrooms.
“That would look like a four-year-old preschool program and allow us to expand our outreach to who is able to come to this school,” Perry said. “I think it would really help a lot of families here.”
If that proposal passes, Cameron Elementary would also be able to update its playground equipment.
“We’ve had two boarded-up slides for quite some time because they’re not safe for use for the children,” said Perry. “Recess is their time to run around, burn off energy, and I think that they deserve an updated playground where they can safely play. That would also help upgrade the equipment to ADA compliance.”
According to Noreus, the district’s most recent successful millages—passed in 1997 and 2010—are set to be paid off in November of 2026. Therefore, she says the passage of these new proposals would not result in a rate increase for voters.
“That 5.57 will stay in place, but instead of going off in a year and a half, it will continue for 13 years and seven months,” said Noreus. “It’s almost $22 million of capital improvements that will take place in the school system by keeping the millage at that rate. If no millage is passed, school millage actually goes off of individuals’ property taxes.”
Brighter Braves Future members hope the community will consider the millage proposals as continued investments in their students.
“Gladstone has always been known for very strong schools,” Noreus said. “It has been a part of attracting a lot of our workforce to live in Gladstone. If our schools are not strong, you really are taking away from the community in general. In order to prepare our kids for their future and support the whole community, we need to maintain our schools.”
For more information on the bond proposals, click here or visit the Brighter Braves Future Facebook page.
