By: Alyssa Ochss | St. Clair Shores Sentinel | Published October 22, 2025
ST. CLAIR SHORES — Lakeview Public Schools is asking voters to consider a bond to complete renovations within the district.
Superintendent Karl Paulson said there is no increased tax levy increase for residents. The bond request is for 6.15 mills and would generate $44.1 million for the district. Paulson said bonds would be sold in 2026, 2028 and 2030. St. Clair Shores precincts 5-8 are voting on this issue.
“So it’s essentially scheduled to be like a six-year working project, with various things happening each of those two years,” Paulson said.
Paulson said they will sell bonds in spring 2026 with related work to be completed the same season. He said what the voters are approving is paying the bonds back over 25 years. He reiterated that what is being requested is a continuation of the current millage that sits at the same levy of 6.15 mills.
Paulson said they’re able to keep it the same due to the increase in taxable value in the affected areas.
“The timing of this set of sales and the timing of taxable value increases, those two things put together, plus we’re paying off old debt,” Paulson said. “(The year) 2001 debt is going to be paid off in 2026. You’re sort of done with that debt, adding on a little bit of new debt.”
Work will be completed at all seven school campuses within the district.
“It is not as exciting, maybe is the word, as the past couple of bonds in that we’re replacing classroom heating and cooling,” Paulson said.
He said the heating and cooling elements of the school buildings will be the main focus. Work would also be done in media centers, gyms and other areas. It will be completed in classrooms that don’t have new equipment or haven’t had work done in a while.
Heating and cooling elements are located in a cabinet by the windows in each classroom. Paulson said they’re able to draw in fresh air and have different parts to heat and cool the spaces.
“They were all put in either in 2002, 2003 and a few in 2004,” Paulson said. “So they’re all more than 20 years old.”
The equipment wasn’t expected to last as long as it did, but routine maintenance extended its lifetime to 20 years.
Another big part of the bond will be converting the administrative side of the Wheat Early Childhood Center to a complete early childhood center. Administrative offices will be moved to another location.
Other projects include roofing, upgrades to the Jefferson Middle School tennis courts, security upgrades and more. Paulson said the only way to do big projects in Michigan is through the bond process.
“School districts go through the exercise of having an election with their local community and they have a bond proposal, and they identify the dollar amount, and the dollar amount relates to the tax levy required to pay those (dollars) back,” Paulson said.
Paulson said they sometimes use general fund money and bond money to complete projects. He said some school districts don’t have general funds at all. The school district has been saving money in its general fund over the years. Paulson also said later in the interview they cannot expect the state to fund schools where they can spend over $40 million dollars when their budget is around $65 million.
The rules of the bond are strict. The school district cannot use the funds for items outside of the preplanned outline they submitted to the state for approval.
Lakeview Public Schools Board President Dan Dombrowski said in an email the district has been grateful to the community for approving work thus far.
“We hope that the public will again support the District in the latest request for Bond approval to complete more projects related to student growth and achievement while addressing needed upgrades due to the aging of equipment and infrastructure,” Dombrowski said