The St. Ignace area committee Save our Kids, Save our Future, urges St. Ignace Area Schools district voters to vote yes on the school bond request Tuesday, May 4.

Passage of the bond will do three things for the school: 1) Provide student safety and ensure the continuance of the school transportation program by replacing all buses on schedule over the next 11 years. Currently three of the school’s eight buses are more than 10 years old. 2) Upgrade all classrooms with 21st century technology and provide every student with the modern technology of this century. The world our students are growing up in is dominated by technology. 3) Build a new biomass heating system that will provide heat to all buildings. This heating system methodology has proven to be environmentally green and very clean to burn. Wood chips as a fuel resource, unlike natural gas, are renewable, located in our district, and stable in price. The gathering and delivery of wood chips could very likely provide local employment. Two separate studies have been conducted that show the school district will spend $80,000 a year less to heat with wood chips than they do currently with natural gas. Less money spent on natural gas will allow more money to go to student programs. Historically the cost of fossil fuels as a heat source has risen at a rate that is three to four times that of renewable wood products. The savings will likely be even greater in the future.

The proposal is asking voters to approve 0.7 of a mill for no more than an 11-year period. A yes vote will cost the owner of a $100,000 home (taxable value) $35 per year. Calculated over an entire year, 67¢ a week will replace all the school’s buses, renovate the classrooms for 21st century technology, purchase computers to provide a 1-1 ratio for students in grades fifth through 12th, provide portable classroom labs and classroom clusters of computers for grades kindergarten through fourth, replace all outdated computer equipment in five years, and build a heating plant that will allow the district to save $80,000 a year on its current heating cost -- all of this for a little less than one candy bar or one bottle of water per week. A yes vote will help bring our students safely to school, keep our students current with modern technology, and transfer heat costs into academic programs.

The committee thanks you for reading this letter and urges your yes vote May 4.

St. Ignace Committee to Save our Kids, Save our Future

Angie Brake, Casey Brake, Mike Buby, Scott Clement, Connie

Cullip, Eric Dodson, Deb Evashevski, Ronn Farr, Mike Grogan, Paul Grondin, Jean Huskey, Rick Litzner, Rod Nelson, Sue St. Onge, Donna

Pope, Dean Reid, Jane Weiss