It’s rare to see a school bond proposal tied to removing facilities instead of building or expanding them, but that’s part of what Suttons Bay Public Schools will ask voters to approve in May.

To be clear, at least half of the $18.3 million proposal recently approved by the school board will go toward replacing or upgrading boilers, roofs, windows and other key infrastructure, along with improving security and building a new all-purpose gym to better serve students.

But the remainder will go toward removing a large chunk of the campus’ dated north end, which now sits empty and unused in a district that has roughly half the students (600) it had just 20 years ago.

“We have a huge campus, and we have tens of thousands of square feet of unused buildings,” Superintendent Casey Petz tells The Ticker. “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars (in expenses) on an annual basis.”

Those expenses are tied to basic upkeep and maintenance, heating, insurance, security and much more, Petz says, money that could be put to much better use in educating kids.

“Every dollar matters when it comes to building high quality programs, paying teachers a fair wage and operating a school district safely,” Petz says. “There's no excuse for wasteful spending in public education.”

The need to “rightsize” the district by removing unused space has been discussed for several years, Petz says. Those discussions culminated last year in a detailed facilities needs assessment completed by a private firm and two community forums to discuss a plan going forward.

“This is not a secret in our school district. It’s not a secret in the community or to our neighbors who live on the north side of the property,” Petz says. “Suttons Bay Public Schools has far outbuilt its actual needs in terms of student enrollment and (has) been struggling for a number of years with what to do with that space.”

The plan calls to remove the old middle school north wing and existing middle school gymnasium, both on the north end of the north building, which houses the district’s middle and elementary school. A new replacement gym is expected to be more energy efficient and require far less maintenance over the long run, Petz says.

Officials aren’t worried about overcorrecting their space problem by removing too much. Demographics suggest the district may continue to shrink, and even if it doesn’t, a return to previous enrollment numbers is very unlikely.

“Based on an enrollment study, examination of statewide and local population trends, as well as a look back at the last 20 years of enrollment…it was determined that the buildings slated to remain have sufficient capacity to accommodate current and projected student population, as well as moderate growth, if it were to occur,” an FAQ prepared by the district reads.

Information provided by the district says the proposal will cost the average homeowner an additional $27.50 a year in new taxes, based on an expected 0.10 mil increase. The election is set for May 7.

The district will have information about the bond proposal live on its website by Monday. Petz wants anyone with questions to check the information and contact the district if necessary.

“We want to make sure that the public sees where we’re at and what is proposed, and has an opportunity to ask questions, whether it's directly to the office of the superintendent or other folks associated with the district," Petz says. "We want to make sure that they know exactly what we're proposing to do and feel properly informed to vote in May."