OTSEGO COUNTY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) — Vanderbilt Area Schools in Otsego County are looking to beef up their security.

The district has a bond proposal on the November ballot to borrow $2.4 million.

Superintendent David Harwood said the upgrades would include new windows and doors that would have protective foil to prevent break-ins.

“That’s my job, to make sure the students and staff are safe, so we don’t want to have any danger of that. I can’t really go into detail about exactly what the school’s weaknesses are. I don’t want to specify. that, but there were some weaknesses that this bond proposal would address to ensure that all students and staff are always safe,” Harwood said.

Other proposed upgrades include new boilers and equipment for the district’s wood shop program.

The proposal voters in the constituency will see on the ballot is below:

VANDERBILT AREA SCHOOL BOND PROPOSAL

Vanderbilt Area Schools, Otsego, Charlevoix and Cheboygan Counties, Michigan, shall borrow an amount not to exceed two million four hundred twenty thousand dollars ($2,420,000) and issue unlimited fiscal bonds for its general obligations, in one or several series, for the purpose of: remodeling, including improving security and equipping and re-equipping school buildings; and developing a parking area and site improvement?

The following are for informational purposes only:

The estimated millage to be levied on the proposed bonds in 2025 is 1.20 mills ($1.20 for each $1,000 of taxable valuation). The maximum number of years that the bonds of any series may be outstanding, exclusive of any repayment, is twenty (20) years. The estimated average annual millage estimated to be required to retire this bond debt is 1.15 million ($1.15 for each $1,000 of taxable valuation). (According to state law, expenditures with bond proceeds must be audited, and the proceeds cannot be used for repair or maintenance costs, teacher, administrator or employee salaries, or other operating expenses.)