Marquette superintendent outlines $60 million school bond on May 5 ballot

Marquette Area Public Schools Superintendent Zach Sedwick urged the Marquette City Commission on March 19 to support a roughly $60 million bond appearing on the May 5 ballot, saying it would address safety, aging mechanical and accessibility systems and program needs across the district.

Saying the district has more than 750,000 square feet of buildings and an average facility age of about 60 years, Sedwick told commissioners the $59.995 million proposal (described throughout the presentation as a $60 million package) targets three pillars: safety, infrastructure and programming. "We're literally hitting every building and every student with this $60 million proposal," Sedwick said during public comment.

Sedwick said the bond would carry an estimated tax impact of 1.55 mills. He said the district currently levies about 1.31 mills and that the combined levy after the bond would be about 2.86 mills — a figure he noted remains below the state average cited in his remarks of roughly 4.5 mills. The superintendent also said the district conducted a community survey offering multiple funding scenarios and that residents favored the $60 million base plan, a factor the district used in finalizing the scope.

The superintendent referenced a recent statewide assessment that identified large unmet school infrastructure needs and said Marquette Area Public Schools has identified more than $100 million in critical needs; he described the bond as a step to narrow that gap and to improve operational efficiency in heating, ventilation and other systems that have not been updated in decades.

Sedwick told the commission the district distributed fact sheets to roughly 17,000 voters to explain the proposal and said the package touches academics, athletics and career and technical education programming as well as building upgrades and accessibility improvements.

The commission accepted the presentation; Sedwick used two public-comment turns to cover background and fiscal detail. The bond vote is scheduled for May 5; Sedwick encouraged residents to review the fact sheets and vote.