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ROSEVILLE — On May 5, registered voters in Roseville Community Schools will decide on a $175 million bond proposal.
A “yes” vote means the voter supports the ballot initiative and wants it to pass. Those who vote “no” are opposed to the bond. The proposal is a zero-tax-rate-increase bond initiative, and if it passes, it will not increase the current school tax rate for residents.
The bond proposal is designed to update buildings, consolidate facilities, expand early childhood education and improve the learning environments at each grade level. A main component of the bond proposal, according to school officials, is to “rightsize” the district so the school buildings better align with current and future enrollment.
RCS school buildings are currently operating at 46% utilization, which means less than half of the facility is being used by students and staff. According to school officials, the state of Michigan recommends school facilities operate at 85%.
If the bond issue passes, school officials will close and demolish Dort, Kaiser and Patton elementary schools and Eastland Middle School. A new elementary school will be constructed on the Eastland site to house up to 650 students. The plan includes consolidating Eastland into Roseville Middle School. Fountain Elementary School will be made into a centralized early childhood center; currently the early childhood programs are at three different schools.
The underutilization of the schools is primarily due to decreasing enrollment, which is a statewide issue.
“This is across the state,” said Joe Genest, district marketing and communications facilitator. “People aren’t having kids like they used to.”
The district’s current enrollment is 4,244 students.
“Our enrollment has dropped significantly over the last 20 years, even the last 10 years,” RCS Superintendent Mark Blaszkowski said. “It’s time that we rightsize in an effort to be more efficient, to maintain student programs and to reduce operational costs.”
School of choice also is a factor for educators, but school officials said that even though they may lose students to other districts, the ratio usually evens out because they also enroll students from outside Roseville.
“We just have way too many buildings. You’re spending a lot of overhead. We have an opportunity to correct the problem without increasing the rate of taxes on the community,” Blaszkowski said. “I don’t want to increase the taxes on our public, and we have to downsize to fix our budget issues. The planning and designing, we started this over a year ago.”
The $175 million bond is for 30 years. Blaszkowski said the district cannot collect more than $175 million. Plante Moran Realpoint conducted a service, capability and pupil enrollment study. Barton Malow did a facilities study. Those studies helped school officials coordinate the bond proposal.
Bond dollars also will be used to upgrade outdated mechanical, electrical, paving, lighting and building infrastructure; enhance safety and security systems across district facilities; improve classroom technology and instructional equipment; update athletic, performance, and play environments; and replace aging school buses. Because there will be fewer schools, more students will have to be bused and bond money would be used to purchase more buses.
The last bond issue passed in 2018 for $58.9 million with a tax levy at 11.2 mills. According to school officials, if voters approve the 2026 bond initiative, it will not increase the current tax rate of 11.2 mills; it will continue the rate residents are already paying as existing debt from the 2018 bond is paid off.
As an example, residents who own a home that has a $100,000 taxable value will pay approximately $1,120 under the 11.2 mills rate per year. Homeowners of a house with a $50,000 taxable value will pay about $560 per year. The taxable value is the value on which property taxes are calculated. It is not the market value of the home.
“Your taxes are calculated off the taxable value of your home. Taxes may go up if property values go up,” RCS Business and Finance Executive Director Rayetta Ashbaugh said. “It’s not going up because the school is getting more. It’s going up because their home values have increased, which is a good thing. You want your home values to stay good, but people don’t like to pay that extra money.”
If voters approve the bond, Dort and Kaiser students will attend Steenland Elementary School. Patton and Fountain students would attend the new elementary school built on the former Eastland Middle School site. Per district boundaries, Genest said, some Steenland students would attend the new elementary school.
Blaszkowski said that even if the bond does not pass, the schools will still close.
“This idea that if the bond will not pass it will preserve the buildings that we plan to close, that’s not true,” he said. “Actually, it may speed up the process of closing buildings in an effort to try to right the budget sooner.”
Staff members also would be relocated.
“We would still need the same amount of teachers,” Genest said. “That doesn’t change. It’s just where they’re going to be.”
The district, too, may lose some employees through retirements and resignations.
Should the bond pass, the major renovations and new construction will occur from 2026 through 2032, and they will affect each school building in the district. The sites of the demolished elementary schools would be repurposed.
“We could put out a proposal to have that developed with some more homes, but we don’t want to do anything until we know what our situation is with this bond,” Blaszkowski said.
Bond funds cannot be used for staff salaries, benefits or everyday operating costs such as utilities, classroom supplies or maintenance. State law requires that bond dollars be used only for the specific facility projects outlined in the ballot language.
The election is May 5 at the polls. Some voters will be voting absentee.
For more information on the bond issue, call Blaszkowski at (586) 445-5505 or visit rosevillepride.org/parents/bond-2026.
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