Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette From Left, Anders Hill, Amanda Massaway, Mike Salmi and Julie Cishke hear feedback freom those gathered at the Houghton Portage Township School Board Meeting Monday. Some residents shared concern over the cost of bonds going into the school which has a large portion of the student body coming from outside the district.

By BEN GARBACZ

bgarbacz@mininggazette.com

The Houghton-Portage Township School Board approved a series of bonds that will fund upgrades to school facilities. In November, voters passed a $23 million bond issue by around 30 votes. The bonds will be stretched out to 2031.

“For a school to fund capital improvements before they can issue a bond proposal, they have to be approved by the community vote,” School Board President Amanda Massaway said. “And so based on the approval from the community, we intend to go ahead and honor that responsibility from the election.”

The measure, which passed unanimously, splits the bond into three series instead of two. Massaway said this was done to hopefully reduce the amount of interest associated with the bond insurance.

“If you borrow money for less amount of time, less interest,” she said.

Designs for the facilities and bidding will begin this summer with construction slated to begin in summer 2026.

During the public comment period, some expressed concern saying it was unfair for residents of the district to pay for bonds that, as a result of school of choice, would benefit students who live outside the district but attend H-PT schools.

In other action, the board adopted a resolution honoring Nels Christopherson for his service on Houghton-Portage Township School board from 1991 to 2024. Christopherson was a trustee on the board during that time and is still a member of the Copper Country Intermediate School District Board. He is a recipient of the Michigan Association of School Boards’ President’s Award of Recognition.

Christopherson addressed the board and the public gathered at the meeting. “One thing I’d like to say to everybody here is one of the most rewarding things to me over the 30 year span of being on the board, was listening to this group of people (principles and faculty) give their reports on what the students have achieved. That has meant so much to me over the years,” Christopherson said.

He said the biggest encouragement to keep involved was hearing about all the student’s activities. “I heard the results coming from all the different things from athletics through the different grades to the kitchen. It was all positive all the time.”

The board approved updates to the Thrun Policy which the board passed last month.