Romulus board approves $153 million bond to repair buildings, upgrade technology and buy buses

Romulus Community Schools’ board approved a bond resolution on April 7 authorizing the district to borrow up to $153,000,000 through unlimited-tax general obligation bonds to pay for building repairs, safety and security upgrades, technology, school buses and other facility work.

The board approved the motion by roll call after a presentation by Superintendent Dr. Edmondson and district staff explaining the proposed three-phase plan and how the millage would operate. “The beautiful thing is that the taxes do not go up. Okay? They go down,” Dr. Edmondson said during the presentation while explaining how existing bonds will roll off and how the district would ask voters to replace part of that levy.

Nut graf: The approved bond measure, as presented to the board, would be issued in up to three series over approximately six years to address deferred maintenance and districtwide system upgrades. District presenters said the ballot language calls for a 2.7-mill levy associated with the bonds under current law and that the bonds may be outstanding for a maximum of 25 years.

District officials laid out specific categories the bond would fund: safety and security infrastructure (classroom panic buttons, cameras, access-control and intercom upgrades), technology (classroom audio, interactive panels, Wi-Fi and network switches, 1:1 device replacement), major building repairs (roofs, HVAC, boilers, generators, windows, parking lots), athletic and site work (fields, press box, scoreboard), and a small allocation for bus purchases. Adam Dennison, the district’s director of integrated technology, said phase 1 will focus on safety and security infrastructure and phase 2 will address instructional technology: "Phase 1, we're gonna look at safety and security infrastructure. Then phase 2 will tackle instruction."

Jason Perkins, the district’s director of operations, described building-specific work identified by an architect-led needs assessment, including roofs at Romulus Elementary, gym and locker-room renovations at the high school, abatement, elevator modernization at the middle school and a planned demolition and remediation at the Mount Pleasant site. "We've identified all the needs throughout the district pretty well," Perkins said.

The bond motion presented to the board specified that the estimated millage to be levied in 2026 under current law is 2.7 mills and that the bonds may be outstanding for up to 25 years; the motion also stated the district currently has $23,230,000 of qualified bonds outstanding. The motion text said the estimated simple average annual millage anticipated to retire this bond debt is 5.13 mills and that the district does not expect to borrow from the state school loan program to pay these bonds' debt service.

After discussion the board took a roll-call vote on the motion. Trustee Rogers moved the bond resolution; Trustee Davis seconded. The roll call recorded the following votes as "yes": Rogers, Davis, McCarthy, Kennard, Kamal and Laster. The motion passed.

Ending: District officials said they will present the exact ballot language and a public information campaign ahead of the August 5, 2025, election date noted in the presentation. Dr. Edmondson and staff said they will also hold community outreach events to explain the timeline, the projects in each series and legal constraints on district-sponsored campaigning.