Majority of Michigan school bonds pass in Nov. election. Look up your district

Michigan voters approve the majority of school bonds on the ballot
Dearborn and Dearborn Heights voters say yes to $1.5 billion bond
Bonds are a key way districts can raise funds to do large construction projects

Michigan voters approved more than half of school bonds on the ballot Tuesday.

Statewide, 59.5% of school bond requests were approved, according to Bridge analysis of Gongwer News Service election data.

That’s a slightly lower rate than the 63.8% passage rate in the May election.

Voters approved $3.4 billion in school bonds across 25 school districts. They rejected $542.8 million in bonds from 17 school districts.

Related:

Voters in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights approved a $1.5 billion bond; the largest on the ballot.

A group of people stand together holding a banner. — Dearborn city and school officials celebrated voters’ approval of a $1.5 billion school bond request Thursday. In the center holding the sign are Superintendent Mike Esseily and Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. (Courtesy of Dearborn Public Schools)

There were over 100 school funding proposals on the ballot.

School districts spend the majority of their operating funds on employee wages and benefits. That leaves little cash available for building upgrades, renovations or major purchases like buses.

Many districts face aging infrastructure and have sought state funds to pay for updating facilities. A 2025 study estimated that public school districts in Michigan need nearly $23 billion in repairs, more than the entire state K-12 budget this fiscal year.

Other takeaways:

Voters approved two-thirds of the sinking fund renewal requests on the ballot and 35.7% of proposals to increase sinking funds, which are pay-as-you-go accounts funded by property taxes.

All seven intermediate school district operating millage increases or renewals passed.

86.1% of school operating millage renewal requests passed and 71.4% of school operating millage increase requests passed

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