03-05-2025
School improvement bond on Tuesday's ballot for Bronson School District voters
BRONSON—Voters will decide Tuesday on a $32.33 million capital bond issue for Bronson Community Schools to renovate and expand Anderson Elementary while closing Ryan Elementary. Both buildings need extensive repairs and improvements.
There is no early voting except by absentee ballot. Those casting votes need to contact their clerk for an absentee ballot or go to the polls on Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
The Bronson Community School District includes the city of Bronson, Bronson, Noble, and Gilead townships and portions of Bethel, Matteson, Ovid, and Batavia townships in Branch County.
The few voters in Ovid Township will vote in Bethel Township.
The district includes a small portion of Burr Oak Township in St. Joseph County.
The school board decided on the 25-year bond with the ballot language asking for 4.98 mills, but the board said it would reduce the current sinking fund millage for maintenance so that the district would collect only four new mills.
Currently, no capital bond millage has been assessed in the district.
Information about the bond issues is available at
The district began studying the need to improve the buildings before COVID-19.
Last year, a 40-member steering committee worked with architects Tower-Pinkster to reduce the project to the minimum necessary to ensure students have safe, adequate learning facilities.
Superintendent Kate Wall said the group "Got rid of the nice-to-haves and really looked at what the needs were."
Prior story Bronson school superintendent: Proposed $32.33M bond issue is the minimum necessary
The architects said renovating Ryan, a 1950s building, was not practical or cost-effective. The board would sell the small, crowded building and surrounding property or possibly reuse it with the city.
The plan calls for the current serious school security concerns to be upgraded for student protection.
Moving the 227 Ryan students would house all kindergarten through fifth grade at Anderson.
At Anderson, renovations would replace outdated mechanical equipment, upgrade building temperature controls, and modernize electrical infrastructure.
Construction would replace exterior windows and doors to enhance energy efficiency and reduce operating costs.
The project would transform Anderson into the sole elementary location, requiring a new wing of classrooms, a new gymnasium, and an expanded cafeteria to serve the larger student population.
If voters approve the proposal on Tuesday, the new Anderson Elementary building would not be ready for occupancy until the fall of 2028.
The bond would also replace the outdated six-lane track with a new eight-lane metric track required by the state to qualify to hold competitive meets.
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Track expansion requires moving stadium lights, which would be upgraded to modern LED fixtures mounted on concrete poles.
Contact Don Reid: dReid@
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Bronson School District bond proposal on May 6 election ballot
