Voters to decide $169M bond for Saginaw Township Community Schools

The Saginaw Township Community Schools system wants $169 million in upgrades and will ask local taxpayers to support a tax increase on Nov. 4.

A bond proposal floated by the district requires a 2.85 mill tax increase, which will cost the owner of a $100,000 home with a taxable value of $50,000 another $142.50 per year, or $11.88 per month.

The Saginaw Township Community Schools Board of Education approved a resolution to place a $169.2 million bond proposal on the Nov. 4, 2025, ballot. It first got permission from the Michigan Department of Treasury, as is customary for school tax questions.

If voters approve the request, the borrowed funds will finance improvements at all eight school district facilities.

The bond proposal aims to upgrade buildings without using a sinking fund.

“Most of our school buildings are more than 60 years old, including Hemmeter Elementary at 85 years old,” District Superintendent Jamie Kraatz told WJRT-TV. “In two of our elementary schools, the classrooms don’t have walls or doors, which, beyond presenting a variety of safety issues, impacts our students’ ability to concentrate on learning. The cost and scope is a direct response to the feedback we heard from families, educators and community members.”

The bond proposal will attend to aging facility needs that have been deferred for years, including entranceways, restrooms, HVAC systems, classrooms and other critical infrastructure projects.

Key areas of improvement would address the following areas:

• Safety and security
• Classroom environments
• Infrastructure
• Athletic facilities.

In 2023, taxpayers rejected a $243 million bond proposal on a vote of 2,540 to 8,671.