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FERNDALE — A bond proposal from the Ferndale Public Schools has been approved to be on the ballot in the May 6 election.
The Ferndale Board of Education approved the bond proposal at its Jan. 27 meeting.
According to the district, the bond, which totals $114.8 million, will seek to improve the Ferndale Middle School and High School buildings and athletic fields.
This will include a new academic wing to replace an “aging 1950s west wing, ensuring separation of middle and high school spaces.” Other improvements include upgraded band rooms, modernized classrooms and expanded common areas, safer entry points, and improved student services.
Interim Deputy Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of Operations Felicia Wright stated during the meeting that the bond proposal will allow the district to conduct a “considerable amount of work” at the Ferndale Middle School and High School campus.
“It’ll allow us to bring in those 21st century learning spaces that we’ve been so intentional about at the elementary school buildings, and what we’ve been able to do at TCEC, at Tri-County Educational Center,” she said, ‘as well as what we’re going to be doing this summer at University High School.”
Wright also stated the district will look to make a “clear distinction” between the middle and high school through the bond construction.
“The middle school will be concentrated on the second floor of the building; the high school will be primarily on the first and third floor of the building,” she said. “There’ll be a dedicated band room for our middle school students to have their very own (space) on that second floor, and so we contemplated the idea in concert with (Band Director Elon) Jameson … about changing his band room”
“We’re also looking at demolishing a portion of the building in order to widen the classroom spaces for the middle school,” she continued. “Obviously, flooring, furniture, flexible seating for the kids. Dedicated, larger science classrooms. It’s really going to be a beautiful campus.”
Wright shared that the district has had these plans in place for its 2020 bond work, but it wasn’t able to move forward with the plans due to post-COVID-19 price escalation.
The board approved the bond proposal unanimously at the meeting. The school district could not be reached at press time for further comment about the bond.
“I’m excited,” Treasurer Jackie Hart said of the potential bond work. “I’m really looking forward to being able to get the work done at the secondary level to continue the transition of learning from early to secondary. So this will be exciting and I look forward to hearing about the plans about the campaign.”
For more information on the bond from the district, visit ferndaleschools.org/page/vote.
