PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Portage Public Schools will seek voter approval for a $132.4 million bond issue in November to complete the district’s two-decade effort to replace the oldest elementary schools, equipment, and technology.
The district’s Board of Education voted Monday to place the bond request on the November 4 ballot. If passed, school officials say the bond will not increase taxes for Portage residents as older bonds expire and are removed from the millage rate.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 halted the District’s efforts to replace
all five elementary schools and renovate another. Superintendent-Elect Johnny Edwards says the district estimated the cost of the projects prior to the pandemic in 2018-2019
and could never have predicted an international pandemic that would halt supply chains and spark high inflation for building materials, equipment, transportation and labor.
He says as a result, the district will need supplemental funds to finish building new schools for Amberly Elementary and Angling Road Elementary, finish renovating Moorsbridge Elementary, replace the 70-year-old Portage Community Education Center, which houses the Community High School and Early Childhood Education, and continue upgrading technology and replacing old buses.
The district has set up a special webpage to keep voters informed through the election at portageps.org/2025bond.
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