Four members of the East Lansing Public Schools Board and the superintendent backed a plan, requiring borrowing millions of dollars, based on credit derived from inflated property values from the past five years. Repayment would be made in a time of shrinking revenues and overall economic crisis. They disregarded the statements from the city, asserting the need to support neighborhood schools, and pointing out the undesirable economic impact on the city of eliminating Red Cedar Elementary School. They disregarded a statement from MSU indicating a commitment to providing housing for international students and faculty and citing the importance of keeping Red Cedar school. The four narrowly outvoted the three board members opposed, providing scant rationale for approval: a questionable interpretation of census data coupled with contradictory and unsubstantiated notions of savings and needs for expansion. They were also unresponsive to more recent data countering their claims and appeals to consider the assets of a model global education school.

Two candidates for the East Lansing board support rushing a bond increase through before the credit limit lowers. Bill Weckesser, a financial manager committed to an equitable process, opposes approval and put forth a plan to avoid saddling the city and students with staggering debt for forty years. He has called for a detailed examination of options and a process that would involve the district, the city, the neighborhoods, and the university in the decision.
Students and residents can weigh in by voting: the decision could weigh on us all for decades.