School Ballot Includes 5-part Bonding Proposal

This is the fourth in a series of articles explaining the bonding and millage questions that will confront voters in the June 8 school election. Two millage proposals - one of the Ann Arbor S:hool District [an done of the Washtenaw Intermedíate School District - are not the only items which will face voters June 8. A large, five-part bonding issue for school, library and service construction and renovation totaling $36,280,000 will be on the ballot, too. Each of the five parts will be listed as separate proposals on the ballot, and voters may give a "yes" or a "no" vote on each of them. If all five parts are approved, taxes would be increased by 4.36 milis or $4.36 per $1,000 of State Equalized Valuation (SEV). For the first time this year, non-property owneis may vote on the bonding issues, pending a decisión from the United States Supreme Court. In today's article, the first three proposals on the ballot - all concerned with school construction and renovation - will be discussed. Tomorrow, the final two ballot proposals asking for funds to build a service facility and a public library addition will be detailed. PROPOSAL I- ELEMENTARY Proposal I asks for $9,560,000 to build a new Mack School, two new elementary schools, plus renovations and additions at 11 existing schools. All building and renovations are budgeted at $30 per square foot. A new 22-classroom Mack School, at á total cost of $2,270,000, would probably be built on land contiguous to the present Mack site. The present Mack building was opened in 1923, and has been in need ef extensive renovations for years. One planned portion of a new Mack would be an instructional foods center, where hot breakfasts or lunches could be served. Facilities which would be used ir. a dual capacity - for recreation and education - by both Mack area residents and students also would be included. The two n e w elementary schools on the ballot would be a 20-classroom building on Ellsworth Rd. at a cost of $1,744,000, and a 10-classroom building on Dhu-Varren Rd. for $1,345,000. The other renovations and additions at existing elementary schools are as follows: - Allen: two new classrooms, $83,000. - Carpenter: four new classrooms and a multi-purpose room, plus remodeling of the art and music rooms, $434,000. - Clinton: 12 new classrooms, $496,000. - D i c k e n: two new classrooms, $83,000. - Dixboro: eight new classrooms, a multi-purpose room, library, administration offices, and art and music rooms, $1,079,000. - Lakewood: two new classrooms, an art and music room, $180,000. - Mitchell: four new classrooms and a library, plus remodeling of the art and music rooms, $329,000. - Newport: eight new classrooms, plus two centrums, $428,000. - Pattengill: three new classrooms, two meeting rooms, $133, 000. - Pittsfield: four new classrooms, two meeting rooms, $173,000. - Stone: new art, mus ie, locker-shower and boiler rooms, plus a new library, $353,000. Also included in Proposal I is $250,000 for system-wide miscellaneous renovations (such as wiring, toilets, ventilation, heating), plus $180,000 for three new sites for future elementary schools. Proposal I would mean a tax increase of 1.15 milis, or $1.15 per $1,000 of state equalized valuation. PROPOSAL II-JUNIOR HIGH Proposal II asks for a total of $9,190,000. This includes $5,917,000 for a sixth junior high school, to be located on the Pioneer High School site. If approved in June, this is expected to be ready for occupancy by the 1973-74 school year. The capacity of each of the four existing junior highs is 950 pupils. The present average enrollment is 1,100. The expected enrollment in eaeh junior high in 1970-71 is 1,168, and in 1971-72 is 1,220. If the sixth junior high is opened in 1973, School Supt. W. Scott Westerman Jr. has said it will be the first time in 15 years the junior highs will not be accommodating more than the 950 children they were built for. Construction for the sixth junior high is budgeted at $30 per square foot. Renovations at Tappan, Forsythe and Slauson junior highs also are budgeted at $30 per square foot. At Tappan Junior High, renovations totaling $236,000 are needed in the administrative a r e a, cafetería, instructional materials center and science rooms. At Forsythe, the administrative area and science rooms are in need of renovation, for a cost of $44,000. Slauson Junior High, built in 1937, is the oldest of Ann Arbor's junior highs. It is considered below the standards of other junior highs. A new classroom wing and an auxiliary gymnasium, plus renovations of existing classrooms, locker rooms, corridors at a cost of $2,993,000 - is said to be needed to bring Slauson up to the standard of other city junior highs. The cost of Proposal II would be 1.10 milis, or a tax increase of $1.10 per $1,000 of SEV. PROPOSAL III-SENIOR HIGH A third senior high school, at a total cost of $16,150,000, also will be on the June 8 ballot. Because $350,000 for architectural planning has already been appropriated from a 1965 bonding issue, the amount on the upcoming ballot will be $15,800,000. The third high school - to be located at M-14 and Maple Rds. - will be a 350,000-square foot building. Construction costs are budgeted at $35 per square foot. (Huron High construction costswere $31.04 per square foot). The third high school would be built for 2,400 students. It is expected to be a rectangular building, with four separate, though connected "houses" - a "school within a school" concept. It would probably be ready for occupancy by the fall of 1974. Supt. Westerman has predicted that even if this part of the bonding issue is approved June 8, split shifts will probably be needed in the 1973-74 school year at both Pioneer and Huron. If Proposal III fails at the polls, split shifts will probably be needed "for a greater period of time," Westerman said. A split shift for one year will usually bring a warning from the North Central Association, this area's accrediting institution. A split shift for more than one year, according to Westerman, would "very likely" mean a loss of accreditation. Split shifts are expected to be needed by 1973-74 because of expected overcrowding. Huron was designed for 1,800 pupils, Pioneer for 2,250. By 1973, Huron and Pioneer enrollments are expected to be 2,092 and 3,027, respectively. School officials say relieving of overcrowding at secondary schools is expected to be an "important factor" in the solving of disciplinary problems. Passage at the polls of Proposal III would mean a tax hike of 1.90 milis, or $1.90 per $1,000 of SEV.