Courte​sy photo Marge Noreus and other advocates from Brighter Braves Future speak to citizens at Superbloom Coffee House in March. The forum at the Delta Avenue cafe was one of six public outreach events organized by the group to promote and take questions about the millages, which ultimately failed despite their efforts.

GLADSTONE — Brighter Braves Future (BBF), the community advocacy group that had promoted the Gladstone Area Schools’ bonds prior to the May 6 election, attended on Monday the first school board meeting following the failure at the polls. BBF spokesperson Margaret Noreus suggested that the school put out some sort of survey to find out the reasons for the prevailing “no” votes.

In their efforts to propose millages that the people would approve of, BBF had taken seemingly every measure recommended by two outside consulting groups that work with schools all over Michigan.

The consulting firms were reportedly unpaid; there was a “good faith agreement” that their engineers and architects would be used to draw up the plans and put out the bids locally only if the bonds passed, said Jen Drown, who had been part of BBF. Noreus confirmed.

“(The consultants) have a formula of if you do certain activities, you will increase your likelihood of having a positive passing of your school millage,” Noreus explained. “We had learned from the consultants that some of the negatives in past periods were: the list wasn’t specific enough, we had not let it out into the community, the length of term.”

Two previous school bond requests had been presented to voters and also failed, the most recent of which occurred in November 2023, when a turnout of 23% of registered voters yielded 58% of them voting “no.”

Taking the advice of the consultants, BBF — which had formed in autumn out of a larger focus group — made recommendations to the school about what to ask for in the millages. They suggested separating the proposals into two pieces, with the multi-use facility for the high school as its own question, “because we thought it could have controversy,” Noreus explained.

BBF printed 3,000 brochures with information about the two millages, made a Facebook page, hosted six community forums, had a webpage that was linked to Gladstone Area Public Schools’ main website, set up an email to answer questions, and did interviews with local media. They shared stories about why things like early education at Cameron and trades at Gladstone Middle School were important.

“And with all of that, the numbers hardly changed from the two previous elections that had failed,” Noreus said.

Voter turnout was 26% on May 6. 56% of people voted “no” to Proposal I, which was for many things at all schools in the district; 58% voted “no” on Proposal II, which was for the multi-use high school addition.

“(The) suggestion coming from our committee is it would make sense if the school board did some kind of survey … to actually try to see what people are saying. If they were ‘no’ voters, why were they ‘no’ voters?” Noreus said.

“We are not actually recommending trying to do another election at this point,” she continued.

Instead, she said, BBF recommends that the school board does some strategic planning, identifies their greatest needs, potentially making some sacrifices. With a new idea in about five to ten years, that vision can be put out into the community and become the drive for the next millage.

In the meantime, taxpayers in the Gladstone school district will have a reprieve after next year, as the current millage will expire in November 2026.

School board members and the superintendent thanked BBF and commended them for all their hard work.

Superintendent Jay Kulbertis said that he’d like to continue to have a relationship with BBF, because “they brought a depth and a width of experience that I think the district benefits from staying in contact with.”

He acknowledged that strategic planning would be in order, and that the school district would need to see what they might be able to accomplish independently.

“We’re still going to make improvements. But there are obviously going to be those big projects that we’re not going to be able to do on our own, unless we find a way to bring in some other partners,” Kulbertis said.

Other happenings at the regular meeting of the Gladstone Area Schools Board of Education on May 19 included the following:

– Members of the Gladstone High School’s decorated FIRST robotics team, the BraveBots, brought their robot before the board, who had been asking for a presentation.

Peyton Rohr, Teegan VanTassel, Allison Tessmer, and Collin Viau discussed the various roles they and others fill on the team, demonstrated some of the robot’s workings, named the various ways team 4391 is involved in the community, and mentioned the other robotics teams Gladstone has for students in lower grades.

– Board trustee Phil DeMay raised the question of whether the arrangement between Gladstone Area Public Schools and Rapid River Schools to share a superintendent, entered into 13 years ago, was still worth it. Other board members and Kulbertis himself agreed that reevaluating would be wise.

– During a report of the district’s cash flow, Business Manager Lisa Boudreau again pointed out that the balance in the food service fund was higher than it should be, but that kitchen staff has identified ways in which some of it may be used.

– Jones Elementary School Principal Holly Howes announced a new last-day-of-school tradition: students will ride their bikes to school, aided by the Gladstone Public Safety Department.

– The board remarked upon 2% grants received from the Hannahville Indian Community, and thanked them for the support. Awarded was $1,227 for a multi-sensory resource room, $1,500 for music with flexible seating, and $3,000 for Indian Education Cultural Enhancement.

– Election representatives were designated for the selection of Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District (DSISD) board members on June 2. None of the seats are contested, so voting will be straightforward. Representing Gladstone Area Schools’ interests will be board trustee Nathan Neumeier; treasurer Henry Knock is the alternate.

– The board approved the DSISD’s budget.

– The board adopted the Michigan High School Athletic Association membership resolution, which remains unchanged from the previous.

– Discussion took place about an upcoming evaluation for Superintendent Kulbertis. Notes will probably be collected by Board President Steve Tackman, and a closed session will likely be had between board members.