Signs like this one at Grosse Pointe South High School informed voters about a Grosse Pointe Public School System bond proposal on the November ballot.
By: K. Michelle Moran | Grosse Pointe Times | Published November 11, 2025
GROSSE POINTES/ HARPER WOODS — Voters this year weren’t just electing local officials — they were also weighing in on a bond for the Grosse Pointe Public School System and, in Grosse Pointe Woods, a charter amendment.
GPPSS voters overwhelmingly approved a $120 million bond proposal, with 70.36% voting in favor of it and 29.64% voting against it, according to unofficial vote counts from Wayne County that were available at press time. The proposal won’t raise tax rates, which will stay at or below 3.14 mills. School officials urged passage of the bond, which they said they will use to address critical and community-identified needs throughout the district.
Projects that bond funding will tackle include repairs or improvements to the district’s aging — and, in some cases, historical — facilities, such as upgrades to electrical and mechanical systems, new boilers to lower operational costs, modern classroom furniture and learning equipment to meet a variety of instructional needs, relocation of the Grosse Pointe South High School office for safety, installation of an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant elevator at Pierce Middle School to make the second floor and its science labs accessible to all, and repurposing of the Parcells Middle School pool space, among others.
“The successful passage of the 2025 bond program will support vital district improvements and address critical needs; priorities shaped by thoughtful community input,” Superintendent Andrea Tuttle said in a prepared statement. “This initiative reinforces our shared commitment to ‘build the future’ for our children. We thank our Bond Advisory Committee, our board, our staff and our families and community members for assisting in sharing facts about the bond proposal as the community considered this investment.”
A charter amendment on the Grosse Pointe Woods ballot was also approved by a wide margin, with 89.06% voting yes and 10.94% voting no. It renames the city administrator a city manager.
“We in the city are grateful that everyone recognized the need for a charter change, and it now aligns our city administration title-wise with the cities around us,” Mayor Arthur Bryant said.
The other Grosse Pointes, Harper Woods, St. Clair Shores and multiple other cities in Michigan are run administratively by a city manager.
Woods voters had already approved two charter amendments in November 2021 that placed the city clerk and treasurer under the supervision of the city manager. Prior to that, the clerk, treasurer and city administrator were all under the supervision of the City Council and could be hired or fired at the council’s discretion. Because the Woods’ council and mayor aren’t full-time city employees, officials said this was challenging, as they couldn’t be present for the day-to-day management of operations at City Hall.
However, there was one change that the Woods couldn’t make after the 2021 vote because state officials said this would also require voter approval of a charter amendment.
“When we made that (charter) change a couple years ago, the people in Lansing said we couldn’t change (the job title) to city manager” without an additional charter amendment, Bryant said.
The job title of city manager more accurately reflects the responsibilities shouldered by the Woods city administrator after the 2021 charter amendments took effect.
It’s just a job title change, though, and not a hike in salary.
“There’s no pay increase,” Bryant said, noting that this was a question he got from residents about the charter amendment.