Frequently Asked Questions

On May 5, 2026, voters in the Ingham Intermediate School District boundaries will be asked to consider a special education bond proposal for capital improvements. If approved, the proposed bond would generate approximately $99,960,000 for special education facilities, including Beekman Center and Heartwood School, serving students who are residents of the 12 local school districts within the Ingham ISD service area boundaries.

In 2024, Ingham ISD assumed operations of the Beekman Center, a school building that is now beyond its useful life and is not suitable in the long term to support student learning. The goal is to build a replacement facility on the Beekman Center site and renovate Heartwood School so that the two center-based county facilities serving students provide similar experiences, offerings, and structures. Specific goals for this Bond Proposal include:

SAFE: Healthy, and Safe Facilities

Critical and urgent upgrades were identified at the Beekman and Heartwood facilities, where many of our students rely on wheelchairs and other mobility devices. To ensure they can move safely and with dignity, our classrooms and hallways need more space and updated designs that support their transportation and care. The Bond Proposal improvements would prioritize the health, safety, and accessibility of every learner by widening hallways, expanding classroom spaces, and creating environments that better accommodate student needs.

Additional upgrades would include investments in technology and security, improved vehicular traffic flow and parking, and modernization of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to provide more comfortable and energy-efficient learning environments.

ACCESSIBLE: Accessible and Appropriate Learning Environments

Classrooms and support spaces for students with complex special needs require sensitivity to the students’ everyday challenges. Students served by these programs require specialized spaces designed to support mobility, medical needs, and individualized instruction. The improvements ensure that all students learn in safe, accessible and modern environments that promote comfort, dignity, and independence—while extending the useful life of the ISD’s facilities for the future.

ENGAGING: Engaging School Experiences

Thoughtful and impactful design that would engage students and staff through inspirational and creative design elements. 

The bond program was developed in collaboration with local districts across the Ingham ISD service area, recognizing the need for more modern facilities for our students with disabilities at The Beekman Center and Heartwood School. The Beekman Center was built in 1968 and has had no significant renovations except for a roof replacement in 2014. Heartwood School was built in 1978 and has seen improvements over the years. The bond proposal seeks to replace the existing Beekman Center and make significant improvements to Heartwood School. The students that attend The Beekman Center or Heartwood School are residents of the 12 local districts served by Ingham ISD.

Ingham ISD serves students in both public and private schools who live in or are served by our 12 local school districts. These local school district boundaries reach into seven counties and include:

• Dansville

• East Lansing

• Haslett

• Holt

• Lansing

• Leslie

• Mason

• Okemos

• Stockbridge

• Waverly

• Webberville

• Williamston 

Ingham ISD offers many special education programs and services to students in the school districts of Dansville, East Lansing, Haslett, Holt, Lansing, Leslie, Mason, Okemos, Stockbridge, Waverly, Webberville, and Williamston. 

Programs include:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Programs 

• Skills for Adult Independent Living (SAIL) 

• Project SEARCH 

• Emotionally Impaired Programs 

• Center-Based Programs (as described in Question #7 below)

Services include:

• Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists 

• Speech and Language Pathologists

• School Psychologists and School Social Workers

• Visual Impairment, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Audiology, Speech and Learning Impairments

Any student that has an Individualized Education Program, also known as an IEP, is eligible to receive special education services in the 12 local district boundaries where they reside within or are served by, throughout the Ingham ISD service area.

A center-based special education school serves students with complex learning, behavioral, physical, or medical needs that require more intensive support than a local district can provide in a general education environment. The school offers individualized instruction, therapy, and care delivered by a multidisciplinary team of special educators, therapists, and support staff.

Programs emphasize the development of communication, life skills, social-emotional growth, and functional academics. Class sizes are typically small as required by Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education to allow for personalized attention and the use of specialized instructional strategies, adaptive equipment, and assistive technologies.

Many center-based schools also provide on-site physical, occupational, and speech therapy; behavioral and social work services; and transition planning to support students’ independence and participation in community life as they move toward adulthood.

Approximately 240:

Beekman = 120

Heartwood = 120  

The Beekman Center was built in 1968 to be a state-of-the-art facility to serve students with special needs. This school building was operated by the Lansing School District until Ingham ISD assumed operation of the Beekman Center in July 2024.

Beekman Center and Heartwood School serve students in the Ingham ISD service area who qualify for special education services under the categories of moderate and severe cognitive impairments, severe multiple impairments, and autism spectrum disorders. Beekman Center and Heartwood School staff collaborate with local school districts and families to offer center-based programs and services tailored to each student’s needs, as determined by the IEP process. Enrollment requires local district involvement and cannot be done independently. Students attending Beekman Center and Heartwood School range in age from 3 to 26.

While certain students with special needs can thrive in traditional school environments, students with complex special needs require more resources and specialized spaces/support. The Beekman and Heartwood facilities, operated by Ingham ISD, offer the safe, structured, and supportive environments that allow these students to learn, grow, and succeed each day.

Students in these programs reside in or are served in the school district boundaries of Dansville, East Lansing, Haslett, Holt, Lansing, Leslie, Mason, Okemos, Stockbridge, Waverly, Webberville, and Williamston.

Many of Ingham ISD’s special education facilities were built over fifty years ago and no longer meet today’s educational, accessibility, or safety standards. The students served by these programs require specialized spaces designed to support mobility, medical needs, and individualized instruction. The improvements would ensure that all students learn in safe, modern environments that promote comfort, dignity, and independence, while extending the useful life of the ISD’s facilities for the future.

The Beekman Center building is nearly 60 years old and no longer meets the needs of today’s students or staff. Its layout, mechanical systems, and accessibility features are outdated, and renovations would cost nearly as much as new construction without providing the same level of safety, flexibility, or efficiency. A new special education building would provide a safe, fully accessible, and purpose-built environment designed to support students with complex learning and physical needs for decades to come. This project also aligns with Ingham ISD’s long-term plan to modernize center-based facilities including both Beekman and Heartwood learning environments.

Having two regional center-based facilities provides significant advantages for students and families.

Smaller, consistent student groups allow us to align staff, equipment, and therapies to each learner’s needs. This consistency creates stability and security for students, many of whom attend through age 26, and helps staff build strong relationships essential for supporting complex medical, behavioral, or communication needs.

Two strategically located facilities would also reduce travel time and stress. Our programs serve students from a wide geographic area, and a single site would result in long bus rides that can lead to fatigue, missed instructional time, and greater challenges for students with medical or sensory needs. By operating two sites, we shorten daily travel distances, lessen time spent on buses, and make school events and IEP meetings more accessible for families.

Together, these benefits ensure students receive the intensive, specialized support they need with shorter, safer, and more manageable transportation, supporting their overall health, well-being, and learning.

Each classroom would feature an interactive touchscreen for instruction that can be raised or lowered for accessibility, including use by students or staff in wheelchairs. Technology and connectivity would be thoughtfully integrated into classroom design—such as electrical and data access from the ceiling—to maximize flexibility and learning opportunities. The bond also would include upgraded safety cameras and infrastructure to enhance building security and communication systems.

Safety and security needs are significantly different in a center-based program as students are less mobile than their general education peers in a traditional school setting.

A few features to help with safety and security would include:

• Secure entryways similar to schools in local district locations or on the Ingham ISD campus in Mason.

• Entrance pathways with heated sidewalks to clear snow and ice so students in wheelchairs or with other mobility needs can safely enter the building.

• Bathrooms strategically placed between classroom spaces would increase functionality but also serve for increased safety. Bathroom spaces can provide a secure location if a catastrophic event happens. Students with limited mobility cannot evacuate independently or quickly to more distant locations in an emergency.

• All physical improvements would be constructed to current building codes for egress, fire protection, air quality, and building standards.

Key features of the new Beekman Center would include:

• Welcoming entrance with a canopy and heated sidewalks to accommodate students with mobility challenges, ensuring safe access via bus and auto loops. 

• Spacious, Secure Vestibule: Visitors would enter through a secure vestibule directly accessible to the welcome center.

• Seamless Circulation: Easily supervised main pathway, flooded with natural light. 

• Interactive Streetscape: Specialized activity areas simulating daily experiences found in towns and villages supporting student life skill development.

• Flexible Learning Spaces: Universally designed classrooms would include adjacent restrooms and storage components to meet diverse needs of students.

• Outdoor Accessibility: Easy access to outdoor spaces from classroom houses as well as enhanced play areas, patios and walking paths and necessary improvements to driveways. 

Key features of the Heartwood School renovation would include:

• New Front Addition: Welcoming entrance featuring a canopy and heated sidewalks to accommodate students with mobility challenges, ensuring safe access via bus and auto loops. The new addition would also include appropriate spaces for life skills instruction and therapeutic supports.

• Spacious, Secure Vestibule: Visitors would enter through a spacious, secure vestibule directly accessible through the arrival area.

• Seamless Circulation: Easily supervised main pathway flooded with natural light. 

• Remodeled Instructional Spaces: Remodeling to provide right-sized classrooms, add adjacent restrooms and storage areas, and introduce natural light into classrooms.

• Site Improvements: Outdoor amenities would include a new playscape for the ASD population and enhanced play areas, patios and walking paths as well as necessary improvements to driveways.

If the bond is approved by voters on May 5, 2026, we anticipate construction would start in the fall of 2027. Beekman Center would be completed first. The next step would be a significant renovation of Heartwood School to make the Beekman Center and Heartwood School similar in design and offerings so no matter where a student lives in the county or in what school district they reside, they have the same experiences, offerings, and structures. 

This would be done in phases over approximately five years.

Ingham ISD assumed operation of the Beekman Center in 2024 and had already planned long-term improvements at Heartwood. Following a detailed assessment by our architect and construction manager, the Beekman Center was determined to be beyond its useful life. The district’s building infrastructure needs will not disappear; they will only worsen with time. In addition, construction costs have been rising. Delaying these improvements may result in higher construction costs in the future. Now is the time to consider investing in safe, accessible, and purpose-built learning environments that meet the complex needs of our students and support staff in providing the highest quality care and instruction.  

Numerous studies show that houses associated with higher-quality schools may command a much higher price premium, indicating a positive correlation between the learning environment and student outcomes, a strong school community, and housing values. Residents without school-aged children would be expected to derive both direct and indirect benefits from the condition of a community’s school buildings and the quality of programs.  

Our member districts recognize the importance of well-maintained facilities in providing healthy, secure, and accessible learning environments. Several of our member districts have successfully passed recent bond proposals to provide optimal learning environments for their students. Ingham ISD now asks the voters of our combined communities to consider this bond proposal that would permit our Ingham County center-based special education students to learn in healthy, safe, and accessible environments.

The Equestrian Center is owned and operated by the Lansing School District and will continue to be owned and operated by the Lansing School District.  

Yes, this ballot would increase the tax millage rate by 0.55 mill in the first year, with the millage rate expecting to drop in later years.

A school bond is similar to a home mortgage. It allows the District to borrow money for major construction, renovation, or equipment projects and repay it over time through property taxes. Bonds provide long-term funding for facility improvements.

Bond proceeds can be used for the following items:

• Construction and remodeling of facilities

• Purchase of instructional technology equipment

• Equipment and furniture

• Site improvements

• Purchase of buses (not planned for this bond)

Bond proceeds cannot be used for the following items:

• Salaries and wages

• General operating expenses and maintenance

• Classroom supplies and textbooks

• Administrative costs

A bond is a lump-sum dollar amount that a district borrows through the sale of bonds, to fund capital projects. The bond is paid back over a period of years with interest – similar to a home mortgage. This provides the district with the ability to fund major capital projects and program improvements without impacting the general fund. Bond funds are strictly regulated and cannot be used for operations, such as salaries, utilities, and other operational expenses. 

Special Education millage funds can contribute to the general budget to pay for things like special education–related salaries, utilities, and other operational expenses; additionally, these funds can be used for facility enhancements or capital projects.  

A mill is a unit used to calculate property taxes. One mill equals one dollar for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value. Taxable value is not more than half the market value of the property. For example, a home with a market value of $200,000 and a taxable value of $100,000 would pay $55 per year for a 0.55-mill tax levy.

In many cases, yes, at least a portion of property taxes paid on your primary home may be deductible on your federal income tax return if you itemize deductions. Individual circumstances vary, so you should consult a tax professional or review IRS guidance for your situation.

The Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit helps reduce the property tax burden for eligible homeowners and renters based on income. If you qualify, the State may refund a portion of the property taxes you paid. Details and eligibility requirements are available on the Michigan Department of Treasury website.

Yes. All bond proceeds would stay within Ingham ISD and would be used only for the projects identified in the bond proposal. The funds cannot be redirected to the State or any other entity.

Bond expenditures are strictly regulated by State law and subject to independent annual audits. Ingham ISD would also provide regular public updates to ensure transparency and accountability throughout the life of the bond program.

Interest rates and construction costs continue to fluctuate, but delaying projects often increases overall costs. Moving forward now would allow the district to lock in rates, address urgent facility needs, and avoid anticipated higher expenses in the future.

Since 1972, proceeds from the Michigan Lottery have supported the Michigan School Aid Fund, which finances public education including PreK-12 and public colleges and universities. Lottery funds cover only a portion of the State’s annual education budget. In 2024, the lottery contributed $1.2 billion or about 5.7% of the State’s $22 billion school budget.

What are the key dates leading up to the May 5, 2026, election? 

Where do I vote?

You can find helpful information about where to find your clerk, polling place, and sample ballots by searching for your voter information here:

Michigan Voter Information

If I cannot make it to the polls on May 5, 2026, what are my options for absentee voting? 

The State of Michigan’s website has all the information needed for absentee voting. 

Jason Mellema, Superintendent

Ingham ISD

517.676.1051

communications@inghamisd.org