District’s goal is to have a bond proposal on the Nov. 2025 ballot

By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
 LAKE ORION — Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education discussed assessing needs, timelines and more details of a future bond during a workshop meeting on Sept. 11.
Superintendent Heidi Mercer updated the board on the district’s work as it continues to plan for a bond proposal on November 2025 ballot
LOCS is in the second stage of a 12-stage timeline titled “Master Plan Schedule Development: Potential November 2025 Vote.”
“It is an aggressive timeline, but I feel like we’ve hit it pretty aggressively,” Mercer said. “And we’re actually ahead of schedule right now.”
According to the timeline, this second stage includes interviews in which principals, directors, community groups and others will be asked what they think would be the best improvements for their building.
Mercer also said each principal will be requested to ask their staff and PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) members for ideas in their respective meetings as well.
The rest of the stages for the year include potentially conducting tours, if necessary, to develop program ideas, and compiling a master-plan needs list.
In January 2025, the board will prioritize that list into a first round of “High Priority” items to focus on and continue to develop, and develop possible bond options. These bond options would be listed as “Bond A vs. Bond B vs. Bond C,” according to district administrators.
A meeting will also be held on Jan. 22, 2025, which was not included in the timeline. The board plans to reschedule the meeting from 6:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. that day to discuss the potential bond.
“We really need to have some bond work on that day because that is around the time where we will need the information from the board as to the priorities that come from all of these different groups,” Mercer said.
In February, study plans will be created to understand the possible implementation of the master plan list’s high priority items. Refined and detailed cost data for those items will be developed during the next month.
The items will be prioritized again into a “Critical Needs” list in April. From there, the board could give final approval of the list as a bond proposal.
A treasury document will be developed from the critical needs list in May, and a treasury meeting will be held in June. The next five months will focus on campaign development until the potential vote in November.
To view the timeline and other documents related to future bond planning, visit www.lakeorionschools.org/board-of-education, click “Meeting Information,” then “Agendas and Minutes.”