Mundy megasite reignites controversy with new, $40M bid for Swartz Creek school

Swartz Creek Schools is considering a second $40 million bid for Morrish Elementary School
The school is located within a 1,300-acre, two-mile area targeted for a speculative development site costing Michigan taxpayers $261 million
Secret negotiations for the sale go back to 2024, but the district has promised public vetting since a potential deal came to light a year ago

Swartz Creek Community Schools officials are weighing a second, $40 million offer for an elementary school that could be vital to Michigan’s hopes of assembling a massive megasite to lure a manufacturer.

The Genesee County district plans a public hearing Tuesday and has until July 9 to decide whether to accept the latest offer to sell the 400-student school and possibly construct another building.

The proposed sale has caused a yearlong controversy in the district, prompted resignations and a whistleblower lawsuit from the school board president over closed-door negotiations last year.

School officials already rejected one offer. Some aren’t thrilled with the new one, which is funded by state taxpayers.

What’s next

Swartz Creek Community School Board of Education is weighing a $40 million offer for Morrish Elementary.

Public hearing: 5 pm Tuesday, July 7

Board meeting: 6 pm Wednesday, July 8

Meeting location: Administration Building, 8354 Cappy Lane, Swartz Creek, MI

Offer expires: Thursday, July 9.

“The school is our public asset,” Mundy Township board member Leah Davis said at a recent school board meeting.

“Stop abusing our tax dollars, trying to buy our school with our very own money.”

The offer comes as work continues on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature economic development plan to assemble the Advanced Manufacturing District over 2 miles in Mundy Township near Flint’s Bishop Airport.

The project has received $261 million and remains engulfed in controversy over secretive planning, over-market land buys, at least 160 home demolitions and the lack of a single tenant for the property.

Economic developers say they continue to seek a major jobs deal for the property. Less than 5% of the originally targeted area remains unsold for the project, including the elementary.

The Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance continues to try “to attract a project that will create jobs, spark investment, generate new tax revenues and create opportunities for young people and families for generations to come,” Tyler Rossmaessler, executive director, told Bridge in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing our conversation with the Swartz Creek Community Schools Board of Education as our team makes progress on creating a turnkey site.”

Here’s what to know about the proposal:

Transparency pledge

All decisions about the elementary school will be made in public, the school board President Chuck Melki told Bridge.

That commitment comes as the district still tries to learn more about secret negotiations that led to the first Morrish offer.

In the past year, former Superintendent Rod Hetherton left the district. So did Jim Kitchen, who was involved in discussion as assistant superintendent and later took over the district. One school board trustee resigned and two — former president Carrie Germain and Andrea Fick — were censured in June for meeting over a potential deal and not informing the full board.

Related:

Melki’s whistleblower lawsuit alleges retaliation after he pushed for accountability.

“It’s public property,” Melki said of Morrish. “How dare us go behind closed doors.”

Accusations of secrecy shadowed much of the megasite project. Over 100 state and local officials signed non-disclosure agreements, but none were signed by the school district, according to records obtained by Bridge.

A map. — About 1,300 acres have been bought with public funding for a large-scale development site near Flint. The unshaded area in the upper right of the megasite area represents Morrish Elementary. (Courtesy of Flint and Genesee Economic Alliance)

Swartz Creek residents and some school officials learned on May 28, 2025, that Hetherton had had ongoing conversations with Rossmaessler to determine a price for Morrish.

“I never got to the point where I thought their offer was good enough to bring to the board.” Hetherton revealed.

However, state documents indicate Hetherton already supported a school move in spring 2024 to a specific site. He’d received a $25 million offer and the state indicated it was worth $30 million.

Records indicate that, by the time Hetherton spoke publicly about a potential sale a year later, he’d privately sought $48 million for the building, worked through new building designs and had discussed buying land with Rossmaessler, other school administrators and the district’s attorney.

Several school board members said they’d been left in the dark.

The megasite and the school

The economic alliance, an arm of the Flint and Genesee Group local economic proponents, targeted the land in Mundy Township for a megasite as the state in 2021 started a search for large parcels for advanced manufacturing deals.

The group joined the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and some township officials in pitching the property for development unbeknownst to homeowners and the school district.

When a semiconductor factory got serious about the site in spring 2024, the state gave the local economic developers $259 million for land acquisition and site preparation, on top of $2 million in other grants.

Documents obtained by Bridge show that the state had considered spending $20 million to convert Morrish into a childcare center.

A deal to give the land to semiconductor maker Sandisk fell apart in July 2025. The company had planned a $63 billion “fab” complex on the site, supported by $27 million in state subsidies.

Documents obtained by Bridge show that $218 million was budgeted for property buys, and another $26.6 million was budgeted for demolition.

So far, about $100 million remains unspent in the purchase budget, although seven additional parcels were under contract as of June 22.

The new offer

The district would receive $40 million in cash for the building and 9-acre property. The state grant would cover all of the closing costs and an estimated $1.8 million in Realtor commission, while the district pays $1 for up to two years to rent the property back.

The offer amount is the same as the one in 2025, but with fewer fees and contingencies affecting the district.

Community opponents raised concerns about whether the district could build a new school in two years and whether the district should accept the same offer one year later.

“Inflation is going to eat up a large portion of that,” Mundy megasite watchdog Brian Bender said.

Rossmaessler, meanwhile, has said that the economic alliance can work around holdouts who don’t sell for the megasite. He said this week that making a deal would be good for the district and for the Advanced Manufacturing District.

“Any decision to sell the school, build a new school at a new location, or do something else, is entirely up to the Swartz Creek Community Schools Board of Education,” Rossmaessler said. “We have made a fair offer.”