It’s just been a month since Brighton School District voters passed a $59.4 million bond issue, but district officials have wasted no time in getting the ball rolling on planning for the major projects, among them, preparations being made for the sale of the bonds.

In November, Brighton area voters passed a $59.4 million bond issue for improvements to schools and educational programs in the Brighton Area School District. Since then, a committee has been meeting with Superintendent Greg Gray and construction managers to establish a timeline and discuss projects that will be undertaken as part of the bond issue.

Gray has said that current plans are to get the two largest brick-and-mortar aspects of the bond issue – the multipurpose facility and the STEAM center, underway by the fall of 2020. Hopefully, he says, they will be done in time for the 2021-22 school year. A STEAM center - STEAM being an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics - is planned for all schools in the district. Also, a multipurpose facility is planned that can be utilized by all district schools, and by the community when available.

Parking lot repaving, new boilers, and for the high school, replacement of ceiling tile, partial roof replacement and new corridor flooring are planned. The total cost of the high school projects alone is $17 million. Gray emphasizes that property tax rates will not go up as a result of the bond issue. But while the millage will remain the same at 7.19 mills, the bond issue will extend the payoff date of the district’s outstanding bond issues by a couple of years. (TT)