Following a 7-0 vote at a May 22 meeting, Oxford School officials will move forward on a proposed multimillion-dollar capital improvement plan and will submit a bond application to the Michigan Department of Treasury to help fund it.

The bond would allow district officials to invest almost $29 million over the next 10 years in security enhancements, electrical and mechanical upgrades and projects that would extend the life of school buildings by renovating or replacing roofs, parking lots, lighting and more.

If approved, the district would receive three installments of approximately $9.3 to $9.5 million in bonds every other year starting in 2018, according to a presentation to the board of education by Umbaugh & Associates representative, Jesse Nelson.

“We’re not immediately adding $28 million (in) new bonds . . . This helps us keep the millage rate down. By having those two-year gaps between issuing bonds, (it will) allow us more time to repay those bonds and our existing bonds,” Nelson told the board.

“It also allows us to be flexible with our capital improvement plan because . . . you have the ability to make a change in (which projects are prioritized).”

According to Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Sam Barna, this method would keep the district’s current debt service tax rate steady at 7.9 mills, while allowing the district to fund the necessary projects.

“If the voters approve (the proposal) in November– and, again, this (would be) a no-mill increase– we’d be able to sell those bonds in stages every two years (and minimize) the interest (the district is) incurring for those bonds,” said Barna.

The measure would be placed on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

According to Barna, the bonds would help finance a current list of needed repairs and improvements throughout the district, estimated to cost approximately $30.4 million in total.

If approved, improvements would be made throughout the district, including the replacement of worn parking lots and sidewalks, the installation and updating of air conditioning units at all elementary schools, roof repairs, the replacement of learning devices for students, the installati on of energy-efficient LED lighting in parking lots, and the gradual replacement of the district’s aging bus fleet.