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Council approves split school sponsorships after requests tied to Margaret Elementary
Summary
After debate over fairness and prior donations, the council approved splitting local school sponsorship funds—$2,500 each to two area schools—while a separate donation request for Margaret Elementary (interactive classroom boards and playground benches) was presented for consideration.
The council approved a motion to allocate local school sponsorship funds split between two area schools, after debate about whether Margaret Elementary had been disadvantaged in prior allocations.
Margaret, speaking on behalf of her school, described needs at Margaret Elementary, which she said was built in 2010 and now serves about 709 students. She asked for help replacing aging classroom technology with interactive boards and for two composite playground benches that could be fastened to the ground. Brett of the regional planning committee introduced the donation request.
Councilors discussed earlier votes, community equity, and the constraint that donations to booster clubs may not be permissible; they debated routing funding to the school itself rather than a booster organization. After an amendment failed and further discussion, councilor 'Jam/James' moved to split $5,000 into two $2,500 allocations to St. Clair County High School and another local middle/high school; the motion passed by voice vote.
Councilors said they would continue to consider Margaret's request and asked staff to clarify procurement/installation and available funds before approving a donation specifically for the school.
