The average building age in GHAPS is 61 years old. According to the US Department of Education, rapid deterioration of a building begins after 40. Our schools are aging out of what is acceptable for proper education and as a public school district, the community has a say in what is done to combat this.

On May 2, voters will have the opportunity to pass a $155.7 million bond proposal that would include a new middle school and improvements for all schools in the Grand Haven district. This project will not increase homeowners’ current tax burden and will better the area as a whole, instilling a sense of pride in those who are a part of the community. We believe that the community needs to vote yes as it ensures the well-being of not just the students and staff of the district but the community in general.

The main focus of the bond is the new middle school building. The current middle school is over 70 years old. As the building continues to age, the cost to maintain it is only going up. With the building being far past its expected lifespan, the current cost to bring all parts of the building up to an acceptable level would be about 70% of the projected cost of the new middle school. On top of this, even if the building is updated, further renovations and repairs will continue to get more expensive. There will come a time when it is more expensive to repair Lakeshore than it is to build a new middle school. The construction of the new middle school will protect students and staff from Lakeshore becoming suddenly unusable in the future and is the right choice for the GHAPS district going forward.

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In recent years, there has been an alarming amount of school shootings. As the country becomes more prone to this sort of occurrence, the issue surrounding safety in schools has heightened. This is one of the issues that the bond will focus on improving. Safety advancements will be added to every school in the Grand Haven school district to ensure that the students and staff in those buildings will be protected from tragic events in case of an emergency. 

We feel as though safety in the schools is not a matter to be taken lightly. The amount of deaths that have already happened this year alone is a serious issue and should be a wake-up call to many. Every family should feel like when they send their child to school, they will be protected adequately. Not only will these changes improve the buildings themselves, but they will also help to make the members of the community feel better about the place in which they live. 

Although some community members might not be directly affected by this bond, it is still important to realize the proposal impacts voting for all residents. For one thing, living within a great school district can increase property values. Updated schools can also create better environments for students to learn which in turn creates future workforces with better education. The new middle school can also promote better job opportunities in the community. These are all benefits that ripple out beyond the students and staff of the district. Thus, this bond is important to the community as a whole. 

Those opposed to the plan argue the cost is too high for the outcome. Some believe that instead of building a whole new middle school we should just renovate the one we currently have. In actuality, this is not cost-effective. It would be band-aids over bullet holes. Studies indicate fixing up older buildings leaves an immense amount of continuous upkeep and maintenance, ultimately suggesting that a new building would be the more economically rewarding option. 

 Also, financially most homes’ budgets are already set around the tax rates that the bond would induce. This is useful as there would be no additional cost that would cause money crunching from an increase in taxes. This would simply keep the taxes from a slight reduction, although this tax is ultimately worth it due to the fact that along with the new middle school and advancements that the bond would supply would improve our overall education system which in turn would up our competitiveness with the surrounding area’s schools, making the communities property values rise over time ultimately improving the total net worth of the area.

We believe that the only option is to vote yes. This bond allows GHAPS to continue to foster our communities’ learning and provides many benefits outside of just a couple of new buildings making this bond the right choice for GHAPS.