St. Johns school board proposed bond it didn’t understand, video suggests

Voters rejected a $92 million bond proposal in May 7 seeking to fund security, athletics, and a preschool for St. Johns Public Schools. And evidence from an earlier school board meeting suggests the people had good reason to be cautious about the proposed debt issue. 

School board members who discussed the proposal at a March 11 board meeting appeared unaware of or indifferent to the financial repercussions of their long-term debt proposal, which area residents rejected by a margin of 109 votes, with 2,096 in favor and 2,205 opposed.

During the March meeting, trustee Christi Mansfield opposed the proposal, citing the district’s history of declining enrollment and its existing debt.

“Everybody wants to talk about how our taxes will not go up. But I think the real issue is our debt. Currently, we have $70 million in debt. That’s before the new bond,” she said. “This new bond would add an additional $92 million to our current debt. Plus, an additional $21 million in interest payments that would go to the bank and not be spent in the classroom. Our enrollment has been going down since 2010.”

Timothy Jackson, president of the school board, called for a fact-check on her statement. Alan Nelson, the treasurer of the board, spoke and said he couldn’t confirm the numbers.

“I don’t know the math off the top of my head right now if that was completely accurate,” Nelson said.

When Mansfield raised her concerns again later in the meeting, Jackson, the board president, objected to her statement.

“People look to us as a board to do it right,” Nelson said. “This information is totally unacceptable.”

Chris DeLiso, a local resident and father of five graduates of the district, is running for the St. Johns city council. He attended the meeting and said most board members appeared not to understand the financial impact of the bond.

“Not one of the other six board members of this multimillion-dollar enterprise knew the basic facts on the $92 million they were attempting to borrow,” DeLiso told Michigan Capitol Confidential. 

St. Johns Public Schools has a bonded debt of $63 million, according to an email Daniel Romzek, chief financial officer of the district, sent to DeLiso, who provided the email to CapCon. Romzek added that the district’s financial advisors projected the total principal and interest obligation for the May bond proposal would be $178 million.

The school board did not respond to an email seeking comment.

St. Johns Public Schools received $4.6 million in federal COVID funds.

Editor’s note: DeLiso is related to the reporter. CapCon editors have reviewed the story.