Voters in the St. Ignace school district will be asked Tuesday, May 4, to consider a millage that would collect 0.7 mills for 11 years to fund a project that would construct a new biomass wood-chip heating plant at the school, replace the district's fleet of eight school buses, and purchase new educational technology. The millage would pay off $2,675,000 in bonds from the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Voters will be asked to consider the district's three requests with one yes or no vote. Superintendent Mike Springsteen recommended to the school board that the requests be packaged together, rather than making three separate appeals on the ballot, because all three needs in the district are equal, he explained. By design, voters will not have the option to support one request over another.

Computers for Every 5-12 Student

Educational technology for the project, which has a projected total cost of $920,000, includes buying 430 laptop computers for every student from grades five through 12, at $600 each for $258,000; a 30-computer mobile laptop cart for kindergarten through fourth grade that includes a damage policy for $42,000; new whiteboards for each classroom for $320,000, and $300,000 to replace 500 computers in about five years, when the first batch becomes obsolete.

The school's new technology plan would be put in place by Gregg Fettig, who works half-time as the technology director and half-time as the middle school principal. The only employee of the technology department, he will be assisted by teachers who will take training in computer maintenance, Mr. Springsteen said. Aid with technology repairs or maintenance can also be contracted from the Intermediate School District, if needed.

Every Bus Would Be

Replaced Within 11 Years

Every bus in the district's eightbus fleet would be replaced over the 11 year life of the millage, costing an estimated $600,000. Buses cost $75,000 each today. Buses in the fleet range from 1997 to 2006 vehicles.

The bus replacement program is part of a strategy to reduce busing costs, Mr. Springsteen said, although no projections are available to determine how much money the move would save for the district. The district, which covers 300 square miles, purchased a maintenance garage this year, which will be used to wash and repair buses. The district paid $342,000 for transportation in 2009.

“If we can't replace [buses] and keep them current, we're going to have a real struggle,” he said. “We've considered contracting with someone else that would provide the busing for us, but there's no one that can do it cheaper.” Savings From New Heating Plant Could Fund Academic Programs

The new wood chip plant is projected to cost $800,000, and could be built as soon as January 2011, according to a study recently conducted by Integrated Design, an engineering company based in Troy. The boilers for the plant would be purchased from Messerschmitt Manufacturing of Bark River. Wood chips to supply the plant would be purchased in the Upper Peninsula.

A pole-barn style building would be constructed between the two school buildings, large enough to house the boiler and a semi-truck load of chips at a time. Wood chips would be delivered to the school by truck regularly. The plant would require no more maintenance or staff attention than the present gas heater, Mr. Springsteen explained, as most of the system is automated. An auger pulls wood chips from the pile as needed, moving them along a conveyor belt and feeding them into the boiler to heat the building. The natural gas system, which is eight years old and works fine, would remain in place at the school and could be used to supplement the wood heat when needed.

A study was recently conducted to determine the amount of natural gas the school used to heat its facility over a two-year period. Results showed that by replacing natural gas with a wood chip plant, the school could save approximately $80,000 a year, but perhaps not the first year, Mr. Springsteen said. Right now, the school spends $167,000 for heating using natural gas.

“The rationale for using wood chips and having this built is that we can leverage the money we're currently using to heat the building and can transfer that and use it for academic programs, instead,” Mr. Springsteen said, although he said he couldn't specify now which school programs would receive the funding, and noted the district might not realize the savings for a few years.

Another benefit of using wood chips, he said, is that other natural resources, such as natural gas and fuel oil, are projected to increase in price at a higher rate than wood.

“Historically, natural gas fossils have risen three to four times faster rate than a comparable wood product would,” he said.

Six other school districts in the U.P. have wood chip plants, Mr. Springsteen pointed out.

Whitefish Township Public Schools in Paradise built its wood chip plant to replace its coal-fired boiler system, which was funded by millage-backed bonds approved by voters for $150,000 in 1991. The district paid $4,800 last year to heat its main 13,000-square-foot building with a wood chip burner purchased from Messerschmitt, said Superintendent Patrick Rowley .

“Financially, it's been a good investment, by and large,” Mr. Rowley said. “Here, there were studies done showing either a fiveor eight-year payback on the investment.”

He added that making sure the burner is maintained properly, as well as using a quality source of wood chips, are both important.

The overall goal for the plan at St. Ignace is to ensure the school district remains sustainable in the future, Mr. Springsteen said, pointing out that, under school funding laws, the school is not allowed to request local tax money to cover operational costs, such as funding academic programs. Among the victims of budget cuts in recent years have been the high school library, which has not been budgeted or staffed, French IV, French III, Introduction to Business, Accounting I, Accounting II, Advanced Computer Applications, Creative Writing, Journalism, Yearbook, Desktop Publishing, Beginning Foods and Nutrition, Advanced Foods and Nutrition, Beginning Clothing, Advanced Clothing, Senior Life Skills, Psychology, Drafting, and Construction. Given this list, Mr. Springsteen said it is too early to tell what school programs might be among priorities for reinstatement with the anticipated savings. He speculated the money might be used to fund technology programs.

“There are a lot of places we could put that money, but it looks like we might be in reduction next year,” he said. “It may possibly go to try to maintain the programs we have.”

Staff cuts have also been made in the district. In 2004, the school had 106 employees, and it now has 76.

“The whole idea was what can we do locally to help ourselves out,” he said of the school millage, adding that the cost to an owner of a home with taxable value of $50,000 would be approximately $35 a year. 0.7 mill equals 70¢ for every $1,000 of a home's taxable value.

Ballot Language Says Levy

Could Continue Past 11 Years

Language on the election ballot states that the district may continue to levy mills beyond the 11 years if it needs to pay off debt to the state, something Mr. Springsteen is confident will not happen.

“If the school district borrows from the state to pay debt service on the bonds, the school district may be required to continue to levy mills beyond the term of the bonds to repay the state,” the ballot reads.

If the district had to borrow from the state to pay off its debt, which it does not anticipate doing, voters would be giving their approval to collect the millage beyond the 11 years with their vote May 4, and the issue would not need to come up for a new vote, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Administrators Appoint Citizens

To Consider District Needs

To gain support for the bond proposal, a school-appointed citizens committee was formed by administrators, said Mr. Springsteen. By invitation from the school, approximately 30 people attended a meeting in November, he said, including parents, tribal members, and representatives of townships and businesses. They unanimously approved the proposal.

“I felt a lot more comfortable making that recommendation knowing there was a larger group representative of the broader base of the community that think that you should do it,” he said.

Part of that group, 17 parents, educators, and community members, formed a new committee to sell voters on the idea of the proposed millage March 7, targeting likely “yes” voters with information about the plan and asking them to go to the polls. Another part of the school's effort is Mr. Springsteen's presentations about the plan to local civic groups. A public presentation about the millage request will also be offered at the middle school Thursday, April 29, at 7 p.m.