Ten school districts in Isabella, Gratiot and Mecosta County are proposing to annex to Mid-Michigan College on Tuesday’s ballot.
Voters who live in these districts will be voting on two ballot proposals that, if passed, would put them in Mid-Michigan College’s district.
“Annexation is really just another word for invitation,” says Scott Mertes, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Community Outreach at Mid-Michigan College.
Mid-Michigan College’s in-district service area currently includes the Beaverton, Clare, Farwell, Gladwin and Harrison school districts. However, many students in Isabella, Gratiot, and Mecosta County attend the college.
Mertes says, “We’ve been in Mt. Pleasant almost since the college started in 1965, in one way, shape, or form. We also teach a class out of Chippewa Hills; we’ve been teaching in Gratiot County almost since the start.”
That’s why the college came up with a two-part ballot proposal that would annex or ‘include’ nine school districts in the Isabella-Gratiot RESD and Chippewa Hills as part of their in-district service.
Chippewa Hills Superintendent Bob Groves says, “This allows our students to actually have in district tuition, which is… roughly $50 less per credit, but as you add that up over two years for an associate degree, that’s a substantial amount.”
Part one of the ballot proposal would allow the annexation.
Part two is a millage at 1.22 mills. That would cost someone with a $100,000 home about $122 a year.
Both need to pass for the annexation to happen.
It initially failed last year when the proposal included the entire Isabella-Gratiot RESD.
“We’re asking each individual school district to vote up or down. It’s a matter of local control now,” said Mertes.
Grover says the annexation would make more people eligible for state programs like Future for Frontlines or Michigan Reconnect.
“Being part of that community college environment, and part of that annexation now, they would be eligible for all of those at zero cost,” says Grover.
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