I am writing to express my full support for the school, police and fire proposals on the Aug. 2nd ballot. I grew up in Detroit and had the opportunity to begin coaching at Lake Orion 17 years ago and just finished my 10th year as a special education teacher at LOHS. My wife grew up in Orion and is currently the Supervisor for Learning Options High School, which is the alternative high school in Lake Orion. We have an eight-year-old son and twin girls who are 17 months old. Outstanding schools and community safety were the driving forces when deciding where to live, work, and raise our children.
A recent Orion Township survey asked residents why they chose to live here. The top two answers were the schools selected by 68% and next was safety/reputation selected by 55%. Another question asked how important of a factor was the Lake Orion Community School District in choosing to live here and 85% of the respondents rated it extremely important or important. Strong schools drive up home values and it is not a coincidence that as the test scores have increased to rival Rochester, Bloomfield, Troy and Birmingham, so have the home values and amount of talented and successful young parents looking to move here.
Orion has been a very safe and desirable place to live which has attracted many young families and has also kept families living here for generations. It is time to show our full support of the things that have made LO such a great place by voting YES on Aug. 2nd for the school, fire and police proposals.
Ron Sliwinski
Orion resident/candidate for Township Trustee