Beacon Tree Elementary

2009 Bond Issue Update

UCS summer bond issue projects continue focus on safety, student learning

Utica Community Schools students will be returning this September to facility improvements throughout the district.

The district is continuing building improvements this summer that were originally set into motion when district voters approved a $112.5 million bond approved in 2009.

Since the school-year ended in June, projects across the district are supporting the bond issue’s initiatives to improve building safety and infrastructure needs identified in district’s long-range plans, create parity between district schools and upgrade technology.

“Thanks to our residents, Utica Community Schools students are continuing to learn in a positive and secure environment,” Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns said. “Their investment in our schools allows us to better support classroom instruction, make the important infrastructure improvements and provide the technology that our teachers are using to increase achievement and promote innovation.”

By law, the funds can be used for capital improvements authorized by voters. The bond issue funds may not be used to support day-to-day operations of the school district, such as staffing or utility costs.

Projects being completed this summer include secure entryways at Henry Ford II and Eisenhower High Schools to match other UCS high schools, continuation of the district’s long-range infrastructure improvement plan relating to items such as parking lots and roofs, new auxiliary gymnasiums at Davis and Malow Junior High Schools to create parity with other district schools, and scheduled upgrades in laptop computers for secondary students. A complete list of summer 2016 projects by building is listed below.

Since its approval, the 2009 bond issue has invested in building and technology improvements that are impacting every district classroom.

Major projects from the bond issue include providing secure entrances at all facilities, implementation of district’s ongoing infrastructure improvement and replacement plan for select parking lots and roofs, upgrading the district’s network to provide greater capacity and speed for wireless access, and projects that create parity among the district’s 36 schools, including one of the largest improvement projects in the history of the district’s original high school, Utica High School.

Summer 2016 Bond Issue Projects