MUNISING, Mich. (WLUC) – Some Alger County voters will soon weigh in on a proposal to help the Munising school district address aging infrastructure.

“This district I think has done an excellent job with the limited funds that they have of trying to maintain and keep this building going, but it’s at a point right now where band-aids won’t cut it anymore,” Munising Public Schools Superintendent Mike Travis said.

Munising Public Schools are asking for its community’s support in passing a five-year sinking fund of 1.5 mills. That’s expected to generate a little more than $2,000,000 for building improvements, primarily to Mather Elementary School.

“We don’t have any intake of fresh air, so we have a lot of sickness that once it starts in the building it spreads like wildfire,” Mather Elementary School Teacher Jessica Kelto said. “Looking at the safety of our kids, there’s some structural safety things that need to be taken care of.”

It’s not the first go around for the district. In 2024, a proposal for o1.5 mills over 10 years failed by just two votes, a result district administrators are still feeling the impacts of.

“Our current boilers in the elementary building are past their lifespan,” Munising Middle/High School Principal Nicole Lasak said. “We worry that if they do go down and it’s the middle of January, what do we do? So it’s more on that critical stage than it was even a year ago. Every year we push it off it becomes more dire.”

For staff who call the 105-year-old building home, approving the proposal would be well worth the cost to voters.

“It affects everybody and I think it’s a great investment,” Mather Elementary School Principal Shannon DeFrancesco said. “Education, that is our future. These kids here will be running this town and making decisions and laws, so yeah, we should absolutely invest in that, no matter how it is.

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