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ALPENA -- At the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education meeting on Monday night, Superintendent Dave Rabbideau and members of the board discussed updates about a new bond proposal.
If passed by voters, the millage rate would stay the same as it is for the current bonds the school district used for mass improvements.
The $29 million bond proposal was introduced at a June 15 workshop meeting by Clark Construction Company and IDI. The proposal will be placed on the May 2027 ballot if pursued by the board. The money will be spent on renovations and upgrades to current facilities.
APS most recently passed a bond proposal in 2020, which gave them approximately $34 million to spend on numerous upgrades across the district’s facilities. Upgrades began in the summer of 2021. The main bond work was completed in summer 2025 with renovations at Alpena High School.
The district's existing debt millage is 1.8 mills, and it is expected to drop to 1 mill after the 2026 debt levy. If the board were to pursue a 2027 bond proposal and voters were to pass it, the debt levy would remain at 1.8 mills until 2037, The News previously reported. The debt from both bonds would be paid off by 2052.
At Monday's meeting according to a video recording, Rabbideau began by talking about some of the properties that the district sold since 2021, including the old ACES Academy building and the Wildcat Court properties.
Those properties were sold to help the district make a little income and reduce expenses to maintain education programs and services, Rabbideau said.
APS also contracted with Kingscott at their regular meeting in April 2025 to develop a master plan for the district's facilities in response to declining enrollment. That master plan came in three phases: Phase one entails reducing and balancing energy costs so more dollars are directed toward students and programs. Phase two proposes reducing the operational square footage of the district by optimizing the use of space at Alpena High School and relocating Central Office functions. In phase three, following the implementation of the first two phases, APS will continue to monitor enrollment and facility utilization trends.
Rabbideau discussed how the district has been fiscally responsible with the $38.9 million from the 2020 bond.
"We've been able to stretch that extensively," he said in the video.
APS took advantage of a Trane Energy bond for $7.1 million in upgrades around energy at no cost to taxpayers that was paid through rebates.
The district was also strategic with COVID funds and used those to see what costs they could offset from the 2020 bond.
The 2020 bond was used to upgrade HVAC, create secure entrances at all buildings, repave parking lots, and more.
The new bond proposal initiative will line up with phase one of the master plan to invest in educational quality and operational efficiency.
Rabbideau said that IDI is putting together a finalized list of recommendations for what the potential bond money could be spent on.
"Those fall into architectural, mechanical and safety systems, from window replacements, exterior doors, classroom doors...facade renovations which could include windows as well, remaining flooring, athletic upgrades at the high school, ADA and barrier free accessibility upgrades," Rabbideau said.
He also mentioned alarm system enhancements and emergency lighting.
As for next steps in the process, Rabbideau said the district would start getting the community involved "pretty quickly,"and identify stakeholder groups to look through the information. That would be in October or November.
The finalized scope has to be approved by Nov. 23 and the preliminary qualification application has to be submitted in December.
The board will officially approve a resolution to call an election in January.
Board member Monica Dziesinski asked who pays for the campaign materials and the election itself.
Campaign materials will be paid for by Clark, Rabbideau said.
Mary Lyon, associate superintendent for business and operations, said in the board meeting video that it is normal for the construction manager to pay for the campaign on the chance that they get the contract. The school district would not be on the hook for campaign expenses should the millage proposal fail.
The school district pays for the actual election, Lyon said. Each township determines what the district owes.