Voters split on school proposals

Mendon Community Schools Board of Education can start its three-phase construction planning, as district voters Tuesday approved a millage-renewal request.

Meanwhile, officials with White Pigeon Community Schools will have to assess what to do next after their millage-renewal request was turned down.

Mendon Superintendent Leasa Griffith-Matthews said the district was seeking renewal of 8 mills over a six-year period.

The $20 million proposal passed, 298 in favor to 182 opposed, according to unofficial results.

“A huge sigh of relief,” Griffith-Matthews said in response to how she was feeling about an hour after the polls closed. “We do generally have very supportive people here in Mendon and, man, you can’t ever take that for granted.”

Griffith-Matthews said several improvements on tap will include an addition at the middle/high school for bathrooms near its auxiliary gym. Eventually, the district will install air conditioning in its two buildings, as well.

The 460-student district will make a number of improvements at its elementary office area and develop a new bus garage to replace the current one, which was built in the 1950s.

She said a fair amount of the impending work will start at Mendon Elementary.

“We’ll have to get boots on the ground and really start hammering out what’s going to be done and when,” she added.

The picture in White Pigeon is less colorful.

By the time St. Joseph County votes were tallied Tuesday, a proposal to renew 0.85 mills was up by 18 votes. The request met its doom, however, after numbers from Cass County poured in and district voters in its jurisdiction singlehandedly upended the proposal.

Between the two counties, the vote total was 402 against and 359 in favor. Cass County’s portion of the vote was 112 opposed and 51 in support.

Superintendent Shelly McBride said the outcome is a hurdle White Pigeon Community Schools will have to overcome. In the meantime, it will continue its focus on educating students to the best of its ability.

“We are thankful for the support that we continue to receive from our community, and will go back to work for our students and staff tomorrow,” McBride stated. “We will take this time to regroup together and make a decision on what the next steps need to be to continue moving the district forward in the right direction.”

The request was a continuation of the bond voters passed in 2014 and again in 2019 to benefit the 730-student district. It would have generated about $2 million without imposing any new taxes.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: St. Joseph County voters split on school proposals