GWINN, MI-- Gwinn Area Community Schools will try again in August to get a sinking fund millage passed.
The district asked for 1.75 mills over 10 years to fix and replace items like floor coverings, light fixtures and plumbing. The measure failed, 686 “no” votes to 507 “yes.”
Superintendent Sandra Petrovich partially blames low voter turnout for the proposal’s failure.
“Of our over 7,800 registered voters in our district only 15 percent actually came out to the polls, so I do believe that there were probably some ‘yes’ votes that never made it to the polls,” she says.
Petrovich says a grassroots group of parents and citizens is trying to promote passage of the sinking fund, but voters may have to go to the buildings and see for themselves what needs to be done.
“We’re hoping to get the community involved by seeing—and perhaps physically seeing by coming in for an open house in the future—what the desperate need is for some of those repairs, replacements and upgrades.”
The Gwinn School Board has voted to place the same millage proposal on the August 6 ballot.
A comprehensive list of what needs to be replaced, repaired and upgraded over the next ten years is at www.gwinnschools.org.
