OTSELIC – The Otselic Valley school board voted unanimously in favor of a proposed building project last week. If approved by voters next month, the project will see the elementary school in Georgetown converted into a transportation and community center, while the Junior-Senior High School in South Otselic will expand to serve grades K–12.

Approximately 20 people attended the special meeting and hour-and-a-half presentation, according to Superintendent Richard Hughes, who called the $17 million plan a long-term solution to some of the district’s recent budget woes. The switch to one campus, he added, will save on staffing, transportation, utilities and other costs.

The district first began looking into the building project in January, reported the superintendent, when its facilities team and board of advisors sat down to discuss the many needs facing both campuses. The last time the district pursued any kind of building project was in 1994, he added, when wings were added to the elementary and junior-senior high schools.

“Basically, our financial team and the board of advisors said we’ve got to do something,” stated Hughes. “They developed several options, but it always boiled down to renovations at both campuses.”