By Jim Newell
Review Staff Writer
With class back in session this week, the Lake Orion school district faces some new and some ongoing challenges, including managing the recently voted-in sinking fund, potential school closings and redistricting.
And while Superintendent Marion Ginopolis knows there are tough decisions confronting the district, she also sees the challenges as an opportunity for the district to unify and emerge stronger.
“Clearly we have a number of challenges, so I’m not going to sugarcoat that for you,” Ginopolis told teachers and administrators during a welcome back program Aug. 30.
“People are not fleeing from this district. We are ageing out. This is going to have an impact on the future landscape of our district,” she said.
Declining resources plus declining enrollment equals a changing landscape, Ginopolis said. “And that’s not unique to our district, enrollment has dropped everywhere across the state.”
“The whole issue is we have to continue to work as a team, and when you’re facing challenges and you’re working as a team it does make you stronger, you come out the other end stronger.”
Now the school board and administrators will wait to hear the results of a study they commissioned through Plante Moran, and then make the necessary decisions at a school board workshop Sept. 19.
“We’re waiting for the Plante Moran study, which the board will hear in September. I’ve said along my guess is we’re going to have to close a school, or schools. That’s kinda what I mean by changing the landscape of the district, and when you close a school you have to redistrict,” Ginopolis said.
Ginopolis, however, remains confident that the school district will confront the challenges facing it and emerge stronger after redistricting, which involves redrawing the various school boundaries after a school is closed.
“Oh absolutely. I just see it even since the (Aug. 2) election. This has always been a very unified school district since I’ve been here, I feel that,” Ginopolis said. “It just seems people are really working very hard to be a very strong team.”
“We’ve got all the players in place and now we have to stay together and work together and make sure that we are in sync: what we’re communicating to people, and what we’re feeling about these changes, because we can’t do it alone.”
“I need the whole staff to be on board with these things, and that’s why I said I’m not going to sugarcoat this, this is where we are, this is the truth.”
“And I feel that way with the community, too. We’ve been upfront and honest about this.”
The proposed 2 mill sinking fund would generate approximately $3.5 million annually for ten years and provide a dedicated source of funding for long-term facility repairs, renovations and replacement projects.

Residents can expect to see the levy on their tax bills in December, and the bulk of the money will come to the district in December – February, with planning beginning in about a month and projects possibly beginning next spring.
Ginopolis said that the building and site sinking fund would also allow the district to build up its fund balance. The current fund balance is about 7.5 percent, but the district, and the district’s auditors, recommend keeping a fund balance of 10 percent of the annual operating budget.
“This is going to be a tough year for all of us, with all the challenges we have to face,” Ginopolis said.