Gwinn Area Community Schools still moving forward with ‘One School, One Community’ initiative

GWINN, Mich. (WLUC) - The Gwinn Area Community Schools Board is still trying to move ahead with its ‘One School, One Community’ initiative after voters rejected the bond proposal earlier this month. On Monday night, the board passed a resolution to move forward with the effort.

The board will submit a construct pre-qualifying application to the Michigan Department of Treasury. The goal is to build a new, centrally located K-12 campus at the current middle and high school.

“A centrally located campus provides efficiency, staff development immediately because you have all the same grade level teachers together,” said Dr. Sara Croney, Gwinn Area Community Schools Superintendent. “By being efficient and combining those two, you’re going to be able to improve. Also, for student achievement improvement, the staff development is important.”

The original proposal was a $45.55 million bond proposal on the ballot that voters did not pass. John Waldo is the School Board President. He says the buildings are old and aging badly.

“Our buildings are aging,” Waldo said. “It’s aging infrastructure. They were built in the late 1950′s, early 1960′s. This community hasn’t had to really pay to build a school because when the Air Force was here, they brought a lot of money into the community that built these schools.”

Now, Waldo says they’re looking to better inform the Gwinn community and have them create a legacy for future education.

“We’re going to look at what information piece is missing that the public needs to know to make a better-informed decision,” Waldo said. “What we’re asking for is the community to build a school and put their stamp on so for the next 50 years, we can continue to deliver quality education.”

The board is also weighing the cost of bringing the issue before voters once again after more planning.

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