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Yet, it's still a motto for Kalkaska Schools interim superintendent Lee Sandy, referring to a proposed bond to upgrade the school system. At a meeting in the high school library Monday, Sandy and representatives from Wolgast Construction, submitted a list of potential upgrades to facilities. The items were listed by categories - needs, high importance and wish list.

The wish of Sandy, is to help submit the best plan for improvement of the schools to the board, approved by the tax payers.

"There's no question - what's a need on the list, is needed," Sandy said. "It's up to the board to decide what they put into a bond."

Included on an early list of needs, were over $3 million in upgrades to Birch Street Elementary and over $4 million for the high school. In an early estimate, the total cost in the need column was over $14 between six schools. The total was comprised of several items at each location, including learning center upgrades for students and repair to the buildings, such as roof replacement.

A list of high importance items totalled over $13 million and the wish list was over $8 million. These categories were put together with input from school administrators and their assessment of what were essential for the future of the school district.

Despite being listed in categories and the multitude of upgrades, Sandy says they all are important.

"None are really things that can be put off for a period of time, because if a bond passes, construction wouldn't start until 2009, possibly," he said.

Monday's meeting was an opportunity to view potential upgrades and numbers, and allow residents to receive input. Sandy stresses it was not a meeting to put a final determination on what is submitted to the board for approval, or to debate seperate issues.

"It's too early to speculate on what will pass and what won't," Sandy said. "The quality of education is what we're concerned about."

Sandy added more meetings are will take place before anything is submitted to the school board.