Officials give bond project update at Eastpointe school board meeting

EASTPOINTE — While several bond projects are underway in Eastpointe Community Schools, decisions still need to be made on other future construction projects.

At the Sept. 9 Eastpointe Community Schools Board of Education meeting, district Executive Director of Business and Operations Robert Carlesso presented a bond overview.

In August 2023, ECS passed a $36.4 million bond issue to fund building improvements across the district. A bond proposal is developed by the school district and presented to the voters for approval. When a bond proposal passes, the bonds are sold in the capital markets at a date determined by the district, a financial adviser and an underwriter. Upon closing, funds generated from the bond sale are deposited in the district’s construction fund and are available to spend for completion of the projects contemplated in the bond proposal.

The first series of the ECS bond was sold in February 2024 for $20 million, and $14.8 million is being spent now on current projects. The projects underway include various mechanical improvements at Bellview, Crescentwood and Forest Park elementary schools for $8.2 million. Another $3 million is being used for classroom renovations at the district’s four elementary schools, including Pleasantview.

A total of $1 million is being utilized for site improvements at Forest Park, including resurfacing the parking lot and fixing drainage issues. Carlesso said that $121,000 was used for asbestos abatement at all four elementary schools.

“In preparation for a lot of this work, we had to get it abated by an environmental contractor,” Carlesso said. “They checked for asbestos and removed any asbestos that was there before the work had begun.”

Another $700,000 has been set aside for renovations at the Eastpointe High School swimming pool. An additional $500,000 for the renovations of the pool will come from state aid dollars.

“Our construction management and architectural fees are a percentage of the bid work that goes out, so that’s estimated at $1.8 million,” Carlesso said.

The remaining bond money will be used possibly in one or two issuances.

Carlesso also shared potential 2025 bond projects that would use up the approximately $5 million left from the $20 million bond sold in February. They include mechanical improvements at Pleasantview; site, drainage and parking lot improvements and playground renovations at Bellview and Crescentwood; exterior building renovations at the four elementary schools to include brick, tuck-pointing, caulking and more; and a roof replacement at Forest Park.

Other forthcoming projects for 2025 could include maintenance building renovations, refinishing the gym floors and stages at the four elementary schools; concrete shed renovations at the four elementary schools; and contingencies for professional fees. School officials also are looking at spending $1 million for technology. The projects are expected to cost approximately $9 million.

“The projects that are displayed here for 2025, we have not made final determinations about, but this is the recommendation coming forward from the construction crew,” district Superintendent Christina Gibson said. “We’re just trying to start looking at all of that 2025 work and help the board and the community understand that we’re thinking about how to make sure we do not have any tax increase. We will have some decisions to make about how we spend this remaining project pullout to keep the zero mills stable for the community.”

During the evening, the district’s technology and school safety coordinator, Danny Laethem, along with Matt Tarrow and Justin Monit, of Communications By Design, based in Grand Rapids, presented a 10-year technology plan dubbed “The Technology Systems Evaluation and Plan.”

“We approached this with a view of what we are going to utilize bond funding for and what we can plan for in the future,” Laethem said. “We’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past few months going through the different systems in the district, whether they be technology or school safety items, and we’ve come up with what we believe to be a pretty solid 10-year plan.”

The plan highlighted various technology updates that educators will be looking at over the next 10 years that are predicted to cost $15 million to maintain and sustain the systems that are in place today.

“We’re not looking at adding systems,” Tarrow said. “This is really just taking what you guys have today and modernizing some of it, making it up to speed with where it should be.”

School officials did not vote on the technology plan and discussed different methods on how potential upgrades would be funded should the plan move forward.