How long should districts wait to try again after voters reject a school bond?
Some don’t come back to the ballot for more than a decade. Some come back as soon as the next election.
A majority of the school bonds in the November 2025 general election succeeded, according to the Builders Exchange of Michigan.
At least 30 of the 49 bonds on the ballot came from districts that had bond proposals in previous elections since November 2019, according to a Michigan Public analysis.
Some were coming back after recent failures. Bronson Community School District in Branch County barely passed a $29 million bond after voters rejected a slightly larger version a few months earlier. This was the district’s 5th attempt at passing a bond since 2010.
Other districts returned to the ballot after recent successes. Voters approved a $425 million proposal from Novi Public Schools and a $350 million dollar proposal from Zeeland Public Schools, two of the largest proposals across the state in the November election.
Zeeland told voters that some projects funded by the district’s 2021 bond are still ongoing. Novi district leaders said the new bond was needed because “supply chain” issues during the pandemic made it difficult for all goals of their 2019 bond to be met.
Grosse Pointe Public Schools passed a bond in this election too.
The district hasn’t put up bond proposals in any election since 2018, but voters did approve two sinking fund proposals from the district in 2019 and 2024.
Try, try and try again?
Districts have a lot to consider before coming back to voters with a bond or other kinds of funding proposals.
First, getting on the ballot is not free. And campaigns to inform the public through mailers, social media, videos and town halls about these proposals can be costly too.
Oxford Community Schools had proposals for a sinking fund and an operating millage on the November ballot. Both failed to pass.
At an October school board meeting, Oxford assistant superintendent John Fitzgerald said the district was estimating costs at “about $10 to $15,000” for its information campaign.
“That's outside of the actual cost of the election piece,” he said. “That would range depending on what each township charges… probably in excess of $100,000.”
Districts also often try to figure out why a proposal failed before coming back for another try.
Some change the scope of a bond between attempts, shifting projects to better meet community priorities or reduce the tax rate. This doesn’t always work.
Districts also have to consider the environment surrounding their proposals — including other questions on the ballot.
Mason Consolidated Schools in Monroe County failed to pass a bond in the May 2024 election.
In an interview shortly after that failure, Superintendent Kelli Tuller said the district would likely avoid getting back on the ballot in the November election because the county’s community college was planning to ask voters to approve an enhancement millage.
“I don't want to go up against that. That's for the whole county,” she said. “But it is really about timing and longevity of the needs that we have, right? I mean things are already beyond their lifespan, but how much can I kind of hobble along? … What will it cost us to run the election?”
Voters rejected the Monroe County Community College enhancement millage in November.
