$14.5 million over 30 years.
That money would pay to demolish an old elementary school of Mesick Consolidated Schools and consolidate those students with the high school.
But it would also mean a tax increase.
“If we can bring the schools together, it would bear a lot of positive things,” teacher Mike Redman said.
Mesick School’s bond proposal would bring all grades under one roof.
"We are only using about 50 percent of our elementary building. Our student population has decreased. So we are looking at this to right-size the district,” Superintendent Scott Akom said.
A statement backed up by rusty locker doors, outdated gym bleachers and a sinking feeling.
“We do have some classrooms that are currently sinking. They were built over the high school that burned down in 1917,” Akom said.
If it passes, around 45,000 square feet of the elementary school would be demolished, and a new wing and gym added to the high school.
Making costs for neglected classrooms go away.
"It’s going to be that sense of community. When the buildings are separated, it creates a disconnect and I’ve felt that ever since we separated buildings,” Redman said.
Taxpayers like Jerry Garland with their "vote no" signs question if consolidation is worth higher taxes.
"The schools, the children. That’s what we are here for to make sure that we are benefiting for the children. I don’t see this benefiting the children at all,” Garland said.
He wants another plan.
"I would say sit down with the paperwork, go over it, come back with a better plan. Come to us. Find out what the students want, what the parents want, then take it to the board,” he said.
The superintendent says they worry that the cost for future updates would grow if the proposal fails.
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