Jim Vendlinski speaks in support of a proposed $23 million bond for facility improvements at Monday’s Houghton-Portage Township Schools board meeting. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)
HOUGHTON — The $23 million bond proposal for additional classroom space and other amenities at Houghton-Portage Township Schools dominated the public comment period during Monday’s board meeting.
The first half-hour of Monday’s meeting was devoted to public comment on the issue. Out of nine people who spoke Monday, five were in favor of the proposal.
The 30-year bond would fund the construction of a new early childhood center that would house Young 5s and kindergarten students as a way to alleviate overcrowding at the elementary school; it would also have the potential for classrooms for 4-year-olds. At the middle school, it would create a new robotics lab, renovate the science lab and career and technical education spaces. Secure entry and technology upgrades would also be funded at both buildings.
To pay for that, the current millage rate, which was scheduled to drop off beginning in 2029, would instead be extended to 2031. The rate would then decrease gradually over the remaining life of the bond, which would expire in 2055.
Scott MacInnes, a member of the Concerned Citizens of HPT School District group formed in opposition to the bond issue, has spoken at several public meetings outlining his opposition to the bond.
Once interest was factored in, he said, district taxpayers would wind up paying $46 million over the life of the bond.
He also described the average millage rate — 2.77 mills, for an annual cost of $277 for someone whose home has a taxable value of $100,000 — as “very misleading,” as it includes the years before residents start paying in 2029. That, he said, would raise the average millage to 3.18 mills.
The additional bond money also concerned him given the possibility of the district needing to seek out more bonds as the district addresses other needs. The district has also needed to borrow $5.8 million from the state since the $10.9 million passed, suggesting the millage rate should have been set higher, he said.
“Every time you get close, you come up with another bond issue,” he said. “You have not made public any short-term or long-term plans for the number of kids that you want to attend the school … As the public, we need to know what your plans are here. It sounds like we’re just going to keep building and keep bringing kids in.”
Opponents of the bond also worried about what would happen if future school of choice trends cut against the district. Over the past 10 years, the total number of students in the area had decreased by 74, said Houghton resident Peter Negro. Projections show a decrease of another 43 over the next five years, he said.
“That’s not growth — that’s going backwards,” he said. “The only reason you have growth now is school of choice. If you can only fit 1,000 kids, that’s what you should have. I can’t understand. There’s got to be underutilized facilities elsewhere in the ISD that can be used for some of these purposes.”
Others questioned the cost of property taxes, as well as the impact of Houghton’s growth on other districts. Mary Chopp, who had been part of the committee to pass the bond that had led to the new gym, said the millage was coming at a time when people are “stretched beyond their means.”
“I love competition, I think it’s healthy, but there has to be an end to how many students, because your biggest issue is overcrowding, right?” she said. “I feel like you’re becoming the Walmart of education, and you’re just letting too many people in, and you’re becoming too big.”
Other residents in the district said the additional cost would be worth it to provide better facilities for the district’s students, and said the school-of-choice program has ultimately benefited the district.
Brian Irizarry, a Houghton resident with three children in the district, said Michigan’s school of choice program had created a supply-and-demand model that had led to higher enrollment as an inevitable outcome. When his family moved to the area, his family had looked at who offered AP Calculus. Parents are also drawn by amenities like the swimming pool and auditorium and programs like Junior Reserve officer Training Corps and the varsity soccer team.
Irizarry preferred to expand facilities rather than cap enrollment, though he would support a cap if the bond does not pass.
“I think that people are demonstrating their concern for the overcrowding of classrooms at the same time, as sort of a victim of your own success,” he said. “But I think everyone recognizes that we’re trying to improve the situation …. as an educator, I hope everyone just keeps the families and the students and the educators in mind. I’m happy to pay extra for increasing the capacity and the facilities and amenities that the school offers.”
Bill Fink spoke as an outgoing member of the Portage Township Board of Trustees, though he stressed his views were his own. When he moved to the township 34 years ago with his family, they had two criteria for where they bought their house. One was that it be within the Houghton-Portage Township School District, and the other was that it be in a jurisdiction with zoning.
He supported the district’s participation in the school of choice program, which he said is likely attracting high-quality students.
“We do have a large number of school of choice students inbound, and I think those enrich our district, and they are giving us population numbers that let us have really, really competitive curriculum decisions,” he said.
Fink also said the primary residence exemption, though not applying to the millage, allows people who live in a home in the district to be exempt from up to 18% of the school operating taxes they would otherwise owe.
Some of the residents also thanked the district for their transparency in putting out information on the bond proposal, as well as the committee work and series of community forums held in advance of the bond vote. Portage Township resident Jim Vendlinski questioned some of the numbers of opponents, such as the 60% difference between the millage rate residents will be paying in 2026 and what they would be paying in 2026 without the bond if the district had not borrowed money for payments on its current bond. The layperson would interpret that as an immediate 60% increase, he said.
“I’m really looking forward to hiring and working with those folks that graduate coming out of this early childhood center, because I think it’s going to pay dividends,” he said. “And those people are going to be participating in our local economy.”
The district has an informational page on the bond at hpts.us/district-bond.php. The citizens group has launched its own informational page at houghtoncitizens.com.
In other action, the board:
• Approved Nikki Kaufman as Houghton-Portage Township Schools representative to the Copper Country Intermediate School District.
• Approved the purchase of a new server from CDW up to $10,500.
• Approved the purchase of a new carpet cleaner/extractor from Dalco up to $10,900.