Voters renew $150M Avondale Schools bond

AUBURN HILLS/ROCHESTER HILLS/TROY/BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — Voters in the Avondale School District hit the polls Aug. 6 to decide on a $150 million bond issue renewal, with the measure passing with over 65% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Oakland County Elections Division.

James Schwarz, the superintendent of Avondale Schools, said the bond — which passed with 3,115 yes votes to 1,668 no votes — will enable the district to enhance school safety and security; replace select furniture, furnishings and equipment; and update the learning environment, school exteriors and sites, mechanical and electrical systems, and technology.

“Certainly, it exceeded our expectations,” Schwarz said of the vote. “I don’t think any of us thought that we would win by that much of a margin. It just underscores the commitment of the community to the schools. We can’t thank the community enough for putting their trust in us to move forward to create the kind of environment that we all desire for our students.”

The renewal of the school improvement bond, Schwarz said, will keep the current millage rate at or below 7.3 mills for the next 25 years. According to the ballot language, residents will pay an estimated 1.37 mills in the first year of the five-year bond and an estimated 4.19 mills per year after that. One mill is $1 per $1,000 of a home’s taxable value.

The bond will support the new construction of a $32.9 million, 55,000-square-foot early childhood center — proposed for the corner of Waukegan and Squirrel — which is expected to accommodate the demand for preschool programs throughout the district. The center will serve as a hub for approximately 300 preschool students districtwide and will include 20 classrooms, a kitchen and cafeteria, an indoor play space, a group learning area, a playground and more. It will also allow the district to offer birth to age 3 programs.

“Likely, this school year will largely be spent on all the design work associated with that facility. We’ll be involving stakeholders such as staff and parents and so on, that will provide input into the needs and wants of that building and how to design and lay out on the footprint of that building and its contents. … I expect that as that work is done through the year, the shovel in the ground will probably take place in late spring or early summer of next year,” Schwarz said.

Officials earmarked approximately $36.6 million for interior and exterior improvements at Avondale High School — including science labs and athletic field refreshes, renovated performing arts spaces, and classroom renovations, to name a few —  $9.7 million for Avondale Middle School and $14.6 million for R. Grant Graham Elementary School, including an addition to add four classrooms. The bond will also support all new playgrounds throughout the district, and upgrades to technology equipment and infrastructure; safety and security; heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems; remodeling and re-furnishing school buildings throughout the district, and more.

“There’s not a person in this that’s not going to get something out of this bond — if you’re a staff member, if you’re a student, if you’re a community member. There’s something in this for everybody,” Schwarz said in an interview before the election.

Schwarz said design work will begin this fall and construction projects will start next summer.

For more information, visit the school district’s website at www.avondaleschools.org/2024-bond. The document also outlines all the planned projects for each school and facility within the district. The public can also contact Superintendent James Schwarz at  james.schwarz@avondaleschools.org or (248) 537-6000.

Call Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at (586) 498-1060.