Student safety focus of Rudyard Area Schools bond proposal on May 7 ballot

RUDYARD — Voters in the Rudyard Area Schools district will see one local item on their May 7 ballots regarding a bond renewal.

This is the only item on the ballot in Chippewa County and only applies to townships in the Rudyard district, so only voters in Dafter, Kinross, Trout Lake and Rudyard townships will be participating.

The school district is asking for a renewal of the existing bond to address several issues, mainly improvements for student safety.

Over the past year, school officials have enacted new programs, such as the new canine patrol unit and the introduction of panic key badges to be worn by teachers. With this bond proposal, the district aims to further enhance safety features by adding an additional barrier to main entries.

The main school entrances will be renovated to include an extra layer of security that visitors and incoming people will have to go through to access the rest of the building.

"One of the things that our school district has really been focused on lately is student safety. Violence doesn't care if you live in a big city or if you live in a rural city, violence happens wherever," said Rudyard Superintendent Tom McKee. "So we're looking at building a secure entryway for our school."

At the elementary school entrance, the main office will be moved completely so that it will be impossible to enter the building without going through the main office and being granted access.

At the high school, the entryway will be renovated to add an extra secure door that locks during the day.

The renovations will not make the buildings more difficult for students to enter, but are designed to stall or deter an intruder.

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The renovations would also include the building of an additional classroom for a daycare center. If construction costs allow, school officials hope to build more than one new room.

Wanting to give not just teachers and faculty, but other local parents easy access to child care, the district plans to begin hosting a daycare center. The daycare center will be tuition-based, and those funds would be used to cover the cost of operating the daycare.

"We're not looking to make any money this way," said McKee. "Whatever we charge for child care would only be the exact cost of hiring the daycare positions."

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The ballot item asks voters to decide on a millage of .70 mills for nine years, coming out to an annual millage of 2.24 mills.

The exact language of the ballot reads: "Shall Rudyard Area Schools, Chippewa and Mackinac counties, Michigan, borrow the sum of not to exceed $3,100,000 and issue its general obligation unlimited tax bonds therefor, for the purpose of: erecting, furnishing, and equipping additions to the school building, including for secure entryways; remodeling, furnishing and refurnishing, and equipping and re-equipping the school building, including for school security; acquiring and installing instructional technology; and preparing, developing, and improving the site?"

— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Student safety focus of Rudyard Area Schools bond proposal on May 7 ballot