Jonesville Community Schools

Have a great break!

Good evening Comet families! I'm just sending out the bond survey again for those who may have missed it last week. Thank you for taking the time to inform us! Go Comets! https://forms.gle/5s6K46cKvL69Funh9

The ATI group, led by Mrs. Church, adopted a family for Christmas this year. It was a learning experience to stay within a certain budget. The group then headed to Cottage Inn and wrapped the presents. The group is also sponsoring a Christmas meal for the same family. It was a great experience for all that attended. Reading students also participated- with their leader Christine Firestone- and adopted their own family.

Here is the link for the bond survey: https://forms.gle/77FSNmHaf947KmSk7 We should be all set to go this time. Thank you for your patience! Go Comets!

There are some tech issues going on with the sharing of the bond survey. I will work on this and repost. Sorry about this! Have a good weekend.

I was honored to introduce Gracen Hager, our JHS Student of the Month, to the Kiwanis Club in Hillsdale. She was recognized for this outstanding achievement by Kiwanis. She's an all "A" student that is a member of the volleyball, basketball, and softball teams. Additionally, she is in FFA, Above the Influence, NHS and 100 Women Who Care, and is senior class president! More importantly, she is just a good person. She received a $100 for her future endeavors from Kiwanis. JCS would like to thank Kiwanis for taking the time, and money, to recognize one of our finest. Go Comets!

JCS Pathways lab students helped the Lions Club decorate the park for Christmas. The park looks great!

JHS Weekly Update: 11/27-12/3 Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BgglBqvtEL7Kq8LLlWjPzBd20kL7Yj-coJMdbBQO-K4/edit?usp=sharing

Our November 27 school board meeting will be held at Jonesville Middle School. The meeting begins at 6:00.

Reminder - Bus #9 is unable to drive its afternoon run today, Friday, November 17th. Please make after-school arrangements for your students. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Comet Community...please read

TODAY is the vote on the 0 mill bond vote for safety and security, classroom updates and instructional technology, and critical repairs/renovations! Here is voting information: All voting in person is done at the Jonesville Fire dept. unless you live in Pulaski and then you go to your own precinct. Absentee ballots drop off at the local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. Register to vote at your local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. Michigan has same day voter registration as well! You can find information about the bond at Jonesvilleschools.org. VOTE TODAY!

Good afternoon Comet families. I am reaching out to you today about a change in route 10’s drop off time. Due to a driver shortage, we will have to do a run and then come pick up route 10 students. ALL route 10 students will be at Williams Elementary for the pick up. The high school students will walk there and the middle students will be dropped off. The driver should be back around 3:30 to begin those runs. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Have a good night!

It can be easy to get lost on any one project for the bond. However, it's important to remember that the two top priorities for the bond are safe and secure entryways at the elementary and middle school and the updated classroom and instructional technology. The instructional technology updates will allow us to take a leap ahead of other districts to continue the great education we now provide. The technology has to be replaced because Windows 10 will no longer be supported. The bond will enable us to free up money for programming and staff AND upgrade our technology instead of just replacing it.

TOMORROW is the vote on the 0 mill bond vote for safety and security, classroom updates and instructional technology, and critical repairs/renovations! Here is voting information: All voting in person is done at the Jonesville Fire dept. unless you live in Pulaski and then you go to your own precinct. Absentee ballots drop off at the local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. Register to vote at your local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. You can find information about the bond at Jonesvilleschools.org. VOTE TOMORROW NOVEMBER 7TH!

4 more days until the 0 mill bond vote for safety and security, classroom updates and instructional technology, and critical repairs/renovations! Here is voting information: All voting in person is done at the Jonesville Fire dept. unless you live in Pulaski and then you go to your own precinct. Absentee ballots drop off at the local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. Register to vote at your local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. You can find information about the bond at Jonesvilleschools.org. VOTE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH!

A question that has come up a few times is why didn’t we just move the football field over to the high school? When the bond got down to the last million, the committee had to decide on how to get the most out of that money. We looked at four proposals: 1) redo the high school parking lot and add lighting at JHS/JMS, 2) Finish AC at the elementary school, 3) Move all football to JHS, 4) cabinets at Williams kindergarten rooms, flooring for Kindergarten, Boiler/pumps at the middle school, replace the chiller at the high school, replace the exterior doors in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade rooms, and add bathrooms at the new track. We voted by putting sticky notes on the option we preferred. We took the top two vote earners. This was option 4 (flooring, boilers, etc.) and option 3 (football field). We then voted on those two options and option 4 won overwhelmingly. The extra money that would be needed for the football field to be moved to the high school included the lighting, irrigation, fencing, and earthwork to name a few. Why did the committee feel that way? It came down to a want or a need. Option 4 we needed. Option 3 would have been nice. You may say, “well, why put any money into athletics?”. Isn’t that a want? I would say it’s not. The bleacher flooring is giving way. We’ve had two accidents in the last three weeks. We lack ADA compliance. There is no handicapped seating or railing. It’s difficult for our seniors and disabled to get around without sidewalks. Our kids don’t have a locker room. Those are not adequate facilities. The committee struggled with the same question but decided that the money would be better spent on infrastructure. If we had put that money into more athletics, then the bond would have looked like another athletic bond wrapped up in a different package. We didn’t want to do that. We wanted a conservative bond that focused on safety and security, updated classroom furniture and technology, and critical repairs/renovations. Option 4 does that, while still updating our existing field. And remember, if in the future we decide to move everything to a centralized campus, we can move the bleachers, lighting, goal posts, and scoreboard. Lastly, I would ask that you look at the entirety of the bond. There will be some items that you may disagree with, but what do you think is positive?

Here is a pie chart of district expenditures and where the money is allocated. This is from the '22/23 school year. If you look at other districts across the state, they are all very similar. You will notice that 80% of our budget goes to wages, benefits, retirement, etc. The ESSER category was from the Williams Elementary project and that money is gone. The maintenance category, the items the bond is asking for, is around 3% of the entire budget. Within that, you have many different items that the money has to go towards. For example: water/sewer, trash disposal, property/liability insurance, electric/gas, vehicle repair, maintenance and custodial supplies, etc. THEN, you have money for the projects that you want to address. This money is what goes towards anything that needs to be fixed, replaced, or updated. It amounts to around $150,000 which can fluctuate a little from year to year depending upon the needs. This is why Michigan schools have bonds and sinking funds to address these projects. And again, the fund balance is there to cover paying staff over the 2 months we don’t receive state aid, emergency repairs, and cuts from the state.

Bond fact sheet that shows all the projects to be completed.

5 more days until the vote on the Comet bond! Here is some information to help you vote: All voting in person is done at the Jonesville Fire dept. unless you live in Pulaski and then you go to your own precinct. Absentee ballots drop off at the local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. Register to vote at your local Clerk's Office. Visit michigan.gov/vote for locations. You can find information about the bond at Jonesvilleschools.org. VOTE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH!