By TEREASA NIMS
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – After 12 percent of eligible voters approved a $39 million school bond in a special election Tuesday, school officials were meeting the next morning to ensure that some of the funded implements would be in place by spring.
“I have been in meetings today to establish how we will purchase technology so students will have it by spring,” Wyandotte Public Schools Supt. Catherine Cost said Wednesday.
The proposal passed 1,482 to 829, with 2,318 of the 19,237 district’s registered voters casting a ballot. City officials said the percentage of voters that showed up is typical for special elections. The last special election drew 11 percent of the voters while the last general election lured more than 50 percent.
Approval for the bond dominated in all but one the city’s 10 precincts. It lost 69-71 in Precinct 7.
In addition to technology, the funds are to be used to improve various school buildings, upgrade leaking boilers, windows and improve safety and security. Cost said a large portion of the funding will go toward replacing items that are “barely hanging on.”
“The first priority is safety and security and technology,” Cost said, adding these improvements can be done while school is still in session.
Cost said taxpayers won’t see an increase in their tax bill because the new bond will simply go on as an old debt comes off the tax bills.
“Wyandotte residents have had a long tradition of supporting their schools,” Cost said. “The fact the bond passed 2-to-1, says they continue to have a strong desire to maintain such a high quality programs for their students.”
(Tereasa Nims can be reached at [email protected])