COMMERCIAL-NEWS | ROBERT TOMLINSON
Centreville Public Schools Superintendent Chad Brady points out the current entryway procedure into the junior/senior high school, which would be changed to be more secure if a bond proposal on May 2 is passed by voters.
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — One of the three ballot proposals voters in parts of St. Joseph County will be considering on the Tuesday, May 2 special election will come from Centreville Public Schools.
The district will be asking voters to approve a bond proposal that would increase their millage by 0.8 mills, from 6.2 mills to 7.0 mills, which would generate funds to improve school facilities and grounds. The bond proposal would generate approximately $17.14 million for this cause.
Specifically, the district is planning a multitude of projects that the bond money would be used for. The major projects include safety and security upgrades at the junior/senior high school, including a new secure entryway and fire alarm system, HVAC upgrades at the junior/senior high school, and new additions to the elementary school and junior/senior high school, including a new elementary school cafeteria, a music room and classroom addition at the elementary school, and a multipurpose addition at the junior/senior high school.
Superintendent Chad Brady said the bond proposal, if passed, would be done in three phases over the course of 14 years.
“Unlike the previous one, this one is three phases over 14 years, while the previous one was three phases over 10. It stretches it out, which is a good thing,” Brady said.
Brady said work on developing the bond proposal and what it would entail started as soon as he became interim superintendent last year following Stephanie Lemmer’s departure to Battle Creek Pennfield. He said there has been a lot of collaboration over the last year to put it together.
“As a district, this office team and our district team, our schools, the board, we’ve done a really good job. Our community group, the Bulldog Blueprint team, we’ve done a really good job working collectively, collaboratively and making decisions and keeping things moving forward,” Brady said. “This hasn’t been a single-person effort, but it’s a big project. When you work on something for over a year to get in a position for a vote on May 2, it takes a lot of time and effort to get it done.”
Brady said he’s gotten plenty of feedback that has helped craft the plan, from community members to staff members to teachers.
“I think we’ve done a really nice job taking in so many different areas of input and feedback from our own staff to the board to the facilities needs assessment to community groups that we’ve formulated from folks within the community to identify what we think the needs are for the district long-range and be within a request that the community would support as well,” Brady said. “I think overall we’ve done a really nice job putting together a package that meets those two needs.”
Talking about some of the specific plans in the proposal, Brady said the top priorities right off the bat are the new additions to the elementary school and the secure entryway for the junior/senior high school.
When it comes to the elementary school, Brady said the school is projected to have more than 500 students going into the 2023-24 school year, a number he said the district “hasn’t seen in many years.” Because of that, Brady said they have been “utilizing every square foot” of the building “with no additional room for anything.” He specifically mentioned the proposed new cafeteria space as something extremely important to be addressed right away.
“As a district, to continue to modernize, as we continue to grow, we’re in a position, when you look around the county, our elementary doesn’t have its own cafeteria. So, that’s another piece of the bond proposal that’s needed and is going to be supported by the community, at least I’m hopeful,” Brady said. “The gym doubles as a cafeteria and PE space. Having a legitimate cafeteria and eating space I think is really important for elementary kids.”
Brady said while nothing is finalized as of yet, the cafeteria could potentially be placed on the north end of the building, somewhere near where the elementary school’s kitchen is now.
In addition to the projected population increase in the elementary, Brady said the district has been receiving requests from around the county and even outside of the county to have children come to Centreville via school of choice.
“We have not seen the level of enrollment we’re taking on right now, and this has been ongoing since February. I’m not taking about enrollment applications for this year, I’m talking enrollments for next year,” Brady said. “We’re at a point also where we’re getting questions on enrollment from students out of county that are inquiring about Centreville Public Schools, so we’re pretty excited about the direction we’re heading. I think it speaks to the strength of the school district and our reputation we have, and it’s starting to spread.”
The other big proposed addition to the district would be a multi-purpose building that Brady said would allow them to have more space for athletics and school activities, as well as a new space for community groups to potentially use.
As for the secure entryway, Brady said its importance is due to the fact that at the junior/senior high school currently, the main office is located across the hallway from the main entryway, meaning that when people are buzzed into the building from the entryway, they technically would have what Brady called “free reign” of the school.
He said putting the school office adjacent to the entryway, similar to how it’s currently done in the elementary school, would be beneficial.
“I think that it’s really important in understanding why that’s needed,” Brady said.
Brady also addressed the proposed HVAC project for the junior/senior high school. He said he’s gotten questions from residents and staff on how the project would impact a similar one projected to be done at the elementary school. Brady explained that the elementary school HVAC project Is still scheduled to be done in the next couple years, and would be paid for using separate Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds from the federal government. The junior/senior high school HVAC project would be paid for using bond funds.
“The elementary’s already on schedule, and we have separate funding for that specifically. We need the bond initiative to be able to get it done in [the junior/senior high school] building too,” Brady said.
Financially, Brady said the proposed millage increase would allow the district to be able to tap into the state’s line of credit to help get a better rate and return on the bonds.
“When districts go to a seven-mill bond proposal or greater, then you’re able to use the state’s line of credit to back the bonds. What that does is get you a better rate and better return on your bond. As a result, we’re able to generate over $17 million with that bond proposal over the life of the bond,” Brady said.
With the proposal’s fate about to be decided by voters, Brady said the community has been supportive of the school district, and “hold in high value what the district does for the community.”
“Obviously, there’s no polling like a campaign or an election of candidates, but we have not heard much feedback from a negative perspective on what it is that we’re proposing,” Brady said.
If the bond is passed, Brady said the district’s team will reconvene to see what projects can be placed in the first phase of the project.
“We’ll bring back that community group we’ve worked with, we’ll ask them to help us make decisions, and we’ll do so based on what we think our greatest needs are right now,” Brady said. “Personally, I’d like to see work begin over at the elementary by way of the cafeteria addition. I think that needs to be put in place sooner than later. There are other things in the bond proposal too as well that I think we could get done simultaneously to that.”
Overall, Brady said he’s a bit anxious and excited to see what the results of Tuesday’s election will be.
“We believe that we’re in good position, I think we’ve done a great deal of work to spread information and make sure people have an understanding of what the proposal was all about. May 2 will tell us how well we did or didn’t do,” Brady said. “We feel pretty comfortable in what we’ve proposed to the community and some of the things we have in place to continue to move the district forward by way of its facilities. We’ll see what happens.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@threeriversnews.com.