Intermediate School District To Ask Voters For Additional Mill

Do the high school students of the Washtenaw Intermedíate School District need an Area Vocational Center? ■ This is the question the WISD will ask the voters of the district to decide on Jan. 22 af a district wide election. The Intermedíate School district is asking the voters to approve a one mili tax increase to finance the building and operation of just such a vocational center. The Area Vocational Center will serve the ten districts which make up the Washtenaw Intermedíate School District; Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Lincoln, Manchester, Milan, Whitmore Lake, Saline Willow Run and Ypsilanti. The Washtenaw Intermedíate School District is basically a service agency designed to provide services to schools on a cooperative basis that the individual districts may not have the resources to provide for themselves. The Intermedíate District has served as the operating and coordinating agency for Special Education programs for more than ten years. The Intermedíale district is the district which stands between the individual school systems and the state, it does not deal with specific grade levéis, but with problems or courses which cover the entire level from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The district helps where asked to do so by the individual districts. In the case of the Area Vocational Center, the individual superintendents asked the intermedíate school district to take over the responsibility for establishing the center. CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN The Intermedíate District named Robert Asleson campaign ehairman to organize, coordínate, and oversee the programs wh'ich vvill bring the district's ideas on the center to the general public. In naming Asleson ehairman, Nicholas lanni. superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermedíate District, said, "We do not intend to teil the superintendents in the various districts how to reacli their constituents, they know this. We hope to help them with audio-visua! aids and speakers We also will give advice where it is requested." WHAT IS ONE MILL? If the market value of your home is $20,000. the state equalized valuation will be $10,000 and the total tax per year vvill be $10 or 19 cents per week. If the market value of your honie is $30,000, the state equalized value will be $15,000, that total tax per year will be $15 or 29 cents per week. This amount will both buiid and opérate the building. The ballot will show two proposals. one gives the district the ability to build the center and to opérate it with the one mili increase in taxes. The second part of the proposal permits the district to issue the bonds. The district will need $7.6 million to erect, furnish and equip the area center. Approximately 29 percent of the mili will bc used to retire the debt and the remaining 71 percent will be used for operating expenses. As the tax base expands, lanni cxplaincd. the percentage needed to repay the bonds would lessen and the aniount avuilablc for operational expenses would increase. WHAT'S AVAILABLE NOW? The secondary schools in the area today have some vocational educational programs according to lanni. However, he feels that these are not enough to train the youngsters of today and tomofrow. "hach year 3,000 students gradúate from high schools in the Washtenaw Intermediate District, " he contiiuicd. "Of Ihcse. 1,400 go on to two or four year colleges and 60 or 70 take non-degree type training. This leaves about half of the graduates with a high school diploma. Only 22 percent of the youngsters have some vocational training. "This leaves 1,200 graduates with a diploma but no training to enter the labor market,"" he emphasized. "The unemployment and drop-out rates in this area are lower than average," Ianni commented,'' and nobody is beating at our doors about this 40 percent with no training, but these are the youngsters we hope to train in the area center." SITE The site is undetermined but would probably be no more than 30 minutes from any individual high school in the area. Students would spend half-time in the area center and half-time in their home high schools working on academies. One of the goals of the center will be to train women and minorities in vocations. A goal of the Intermediate School District is to bring discussions of vocations to the kindergarten level and to train teachers from kindergarten through 12 to the needs and availability of vocational education. Junior high and high school counselors would receive in-service training so they can help to steer students toward a vocation which suits the needs and desires of the student. Additional information regarding the center and the election will be in forth coming issues of the Advisor. j