Trending
GLADSTONE -- On Tuesday, a total of 1,955 voters from Brampton Township, Escanaba Township and the city of Gladstone ultimately shot down the bond proposal set forth by Gladstone Area Schools, with 59% opposed. The school board has yet to decide what the next steps toward their goals will be, Superintendent Jay Kulbertis said Wednesday.
"The first thing is to just get the word out thanking everyone who helped with the effort," said Kulbertis. "A lot of people put a lot of time and energy into educating people and trying to get people to go out to the polls."
Next, the school must evaluate the results of the election and community concerns.
"Clearly, there was there was some disconnect between what we thought our message was portraying and what people were hearing," Kulbertis said. "So as a district, we'll evaluate the election results, we'll evaluate all the bond proposal projects, we'll circle back with the community, with staff, and then we'll begin to strategize how to address our needs in the future."
The projects that had been outlined as goals prior to the vote included work at every school in the district, both indoor and outdoor. Some ambitions were to expand athletic facilities; others involved equipping classrooms with higher technology; the most pressing were to rectify impediments to safety.
A traffic pattern at Cameron Elementary School that had been identified as dangerous is still "at the top of our list of priorities," Kulbertis said.
"We'll look at what we can do with existing resources, what we can do in terms of just tapping into it to other potential revenue streams," he said.
The superintendent said that it is too early to say which measures will be taken, i.e., how funds will be sought for which projects. At this point, it is not known whether an alternate proposal will even hit the ballot.
"We may just have to roll up our sleeves and say, okay, if this if this avenue is off the table, how can we get creative? What other options might there be that we haven't yet considered?" Kulbertis said. He mentioned that the message from the community seemed to be that Gladstone Area Schools could figure out another route to achieving their goals, but emphasized that he was not able to speak for the board.
"Despite the setback, we'll continue moving forward, working together to again continue to provide the quality educational experience that all of our students deserve and our community has come to expect," Kulbertis said.
The next school board meeting is at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20, at Cameron Elementary School (803 29th St). The public is welcome to attend.