By David Fleet
Editor
Goodrich-On Monday night the school board of trustees convened for special meeting to consider architectural services for an upcoming facilities bond project.
Three companies, Holland based, GMB Architecture & Engineering; Troy based, Integrated Design Solutions and Bloomfield Hills based, TMP Architecture, Inc. attended the meeting each providing a 45 minute presentation for the board of trustees.

Board President Greg Main and Trustee Ashley Herriman did not attended the special meeting.
On Oct. 15, district building and site committee had consulted with the school district attorney to discuss the district’s facility needs. In November the school board of trustees voted 7-0 to move forward with the exploration of a district bond and/or sinking fund for possible vote in November 2019.
No decision was made by the board on Monday for the architecture and engineering services. Once decided, the company would work with Pontiac based Auch Construction, selected by the board on Feb. 4 for the project management.
Details of the project have not been confirmed, however, following the meeting Ryan Relken, district superintendent outlined some considerations regarding the facilities, funding and future for the district.
“When I became superintendent in 2017, I started out by focusing on a sinking fund due to years of deferred maintenance and the variety of needs ranging from roofs, to driveways, to technology, and so forth,” said Relken. “As the administration team and facilities team dug deeper we started to see potential for a bond with out increasing the local millage rate. What really drove this was the sheer amount of potential needs both in terms of basic brick and mortar, but also academic and instructional needs that help us to meet our vision of preparing people for life. The work with our construction management and architect will help us formulate a facility plan. Once that is accomplished we can then decide what the best route forward in terms of bond, sinking fund, and/or both.”

According to the Michigan Association of School Boards a sinking fund millage is assessed every year for however many years the funds are approved. With bond issues, the district receives all the funds from the assessed mills upfront and then it is paid back over a number of years.
“From what I am learning enrollment forecasts play a very large role in ultimately determining how much a district can borrow for a project,” said Relken. “The current funding model in Michigan is based nearly completely in enrollment so the state needs to see that a district will have the future capacity to payback what they borrow. Looking back at approximately 10 years of data, Goodrich’s enrollment has stayed fairly steady at around 2,100 students. The interesting scenario that we are currently experiencing is that we are maxed out on space at both our elementary buildings. There appears to have been a drop in enrollment during the recession years and those groups are currently moving through the middle school.”
Relken added that data would seem to indicate that the grade level numbers tend to increase over the PK-12 school experience and tend to end up between 185 and 200 by the time students graduate.
“One need that we are trying to address is the increased need for before and after school care that goes along with increases in the lower elementary population,” he said. “We currently lack the space to expand our current offerings due to limited space.”
Schools of Choice are definitely a factor, Relken added.
“They (Schools of Choice) account for a shade over 500 of our current enrollment and about $3,931,200, which is about one-fifth of our 2018 general fund,” he said. “Since the passage of Prop A in 1995, local school districts in Michigan are limited in what taxes they can levy to fund schools. Our entire general fund that we use to create the educational program we offer to our students comes from funds allocated to each individual district and they are based 100 percent on student enrollment.”
Distinct officials are considering shifting the vote date to May 2020 rather than November 2019.
“The main positive simply is time to create a comprehensive, positive, and inclusive campaign that moves the district forward for decades to come,” said Relken