Pathways lab students helped members of the Lions Club decorate our park for Christmas. The park looks great!
Our November 27 school board meeting will be held at Jonesville Middle School. The meeting begins at 6:00.
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?
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!
This is the answer to the question, "Why didn't you just move the football complex to the high school along with the track?".
Here is a quick summary of the November 7th bond project. It is a 0 mill increase focusing on safety and security, classroom and instructional technology updates, and critical repairs/renovations.
The bond will not increase your taxes and they will begin going down in 2034 and continue to go down each year over the life of the bond. Visit Jonesvilleschools.org for more information!
This box along with valves and HVAC controls are what need to be replaced at Jonesville High School. When we upgraded our HVAC system a couple years ago, the problem we ran into is that the new system doesn't "talk" to the old system. It's too outdated. We had to update our software that ran both the high school and elementary because it ran on Windows '98, which is no longer supported or available so if the system went down we were out of luck. Right now, there are times that Vern has to climb up to manually move dampeners at the high school. It's another example of something that is just past its life. The committee selected this project because we need to finish updating our system and the new system can help with energy efficiency.
Here are some photos from Mrs. Martin's art class. We are very excited to be able to offer this to our middle schoolers this year! They are doing great projects!
One of the questions I frequently get about the bond is, "Why don't you use the money you have?" Here is a pie graph of our 2022/23 school budget. This breakdown is very similar to districts statewide. The vast majority of a school district's expenses go towards staff (wages, benefits, retirement, etc.). And that is as it should be. You want to put your money towards your people.
The rest of the money then has to be divided up between transportation, athletics, supplies, technology and maintenance. In the pie chart, the ESSER funds were spent on the HVAC project at Williams last year so that is not in this year’s budget. Those monies are gone. The safety and security money must go towards safety and security and is temporary. Our maintenance budget which is around 3% of our total budget goes towards utilities, grounds, maintenance and custodial supplies, water, trash, and repair/purchased services. The repair/purchased services portion is what we have to work with for major projects. In times of an emergency, we can dip into our fund balance if we need to.
So why not just keep setting money aside? The district does and has. However, any money you are saving for the future is money we can't use for the needs of today. Our facilities director (Tom) has done a great job of repairing what we can but he is limited by our budget, the size of the project, and facilities that are just past their useful life.
These are some photos that show the state of our bleachers at the football field. The larger hole was a result of someone’s foot going through it to no fault of their own. Another is an image of a board that prevents items from falling below the bleachers that have fallen off. The bleachers are rotting. Not due to neglect but time. We can, and have, replace(d) boards. None of the complex is ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliant. There is no, real, handicap parking at the field. There is no handicapped seating. There are no sidewalks which makes it difficult for our seniors and disabled to navigate to the bleachers. There is no locker room for our kids. They use the transportation garage and the visiting team goes back on their bus.
This 0 mill proposal provides new bleachers for both sides. The bleachers will have railing and the steps grip. The bond provides real handicapped parking. It provides sidewalks. It provides a multipurpose building that can house concessions, restrooms, storage, and locker rooms. It also provides new lighting for the stadium.
Remember, the majority of the bond is going towards school buildings in the form of safety and security, updated furniture and instructional technology, and repairs/renovations. However, our athletic complexes are also facilities. The football field is around 75 years old, possibly older. These are used by the entire community. Go to jonesvilleschools.org for more information. Go Comets!
Recent Jonesville High School graduate, Hannah Spencer, a current freshman at the University of Alabama Honors college, has earned a spot on the Crimson Tide Women’s Division I rowing team.
According to Hannah, “This has been a great experience and I’m loving the opportunity that University of Alabama has given me but also remember the support from my community back home. My years in competitive cheer helped to physically prepare me and band helped provide leadership skills that have been useful in my experience.”
Hannah, as a valedictorian for the class of 2023, understands the importance of taking her coursework seriously and has expressed how well her AP courses, as well as her economics class, at JHS have prepared her for the college workload. She is maintaining strong grades, in addition to a part-time job and working out with her team six days per week. Hannah is double majoring in Political Science and History with a minor in Russian.
There is still a lot of hard work to put in between now and spring season, and Hannah is learning about what it means to be an NCAA division 1 athlete but she’s proven that she is up for the challenge.
There is still heavy competition to earn a spot on the varsity team, and it will be an ongoing process for the next few months but with how much she is loving her coaches, her teammates, and the sport, she is excited to see where this takes her.
She will be competing in UA’s fall regatta on the Black Warrior river in Tuscaloosa on October 28.
Go Comets & Row tide
These are the boilers at Jonesville Middle School. They are over 20 years old and are nearing end of life. This is one of the projects the committee felt should be addressed. We replaced the boilers at Williams Elementary school last year and we have seen reduced usage as a result. Boilers are much more energy efficient now.
Please read for some bond FAQ's
