Superintendent Mike Esseily wants Dearborn voters to see the $1.51 billion school bond on the Nov. 3 ballot as bigger than any one leader or school board.

"This bond is way more than about one individual, one person, one board, or even just our school district right now," Esseily told The Bolt, Edsel Ford High School's student newspaper, in an interview published Tuesday, Oct. 13. "This is a bond to pay it forward for future generations in Dearborn and to ensure our students have access to the best facilities in the world."

The bond would fund 20 years of construction across the district's 37 schools. Plans call for new or expanded preschool-through-eighth-grade buildings, more than $220 million in improvements at Fordson, Dearborn and Edsel Ford high schools, and improvements at every school within the first three years, including work on entryways, restrooms, roofs and technology, according to the district's bond page. Every building would have air conditioning when the work is finished.

Esseily told the student paper that many district buildings are nearly 80 years old, with some approaching a century. He said the structures are more outdated than those in surrounding districts.

Esseily said grants alone would not meet the district's needs. Esseily told The Yemeni American News in September that available infrastructure grants were insufficient for the scale of the work needed. The Michigan Department of Education announced a $32.8 million infrastructure grant for Detroit Public Schools Community District in July.

The ballot question estimates a first-year levy of 3.14 mills. The district says offsetting reductions would leave the combined city and school tax rate unchanged for Dearborn homeowners. The district plans to waive its 2.18-mill operating levy on homeowners, and a City of Dearborn sewer-overflow bond is dropping off tax bills, offsetting the new levy, FOX 2 Detroit reported. The sewer millage reduction would occur even if the school bond fails.

Dearborn Heights homeowners inside the district boundary would see a net increase of about 0.96 mill, roughly $96 per year for every $100,000 in taxable value, under the district's levy comparison. The district's FAQ notes that corrections for previously uncollected operating taxes complicate year-to-year comparisons. The ballot language estimates a simple average annual levy of 5.67 mills to retire each series of bonds, with each series outstanding for no more than 30 years, excluding refunding.

A superintendent shaped by the district

Esseily is a product of the system he leads. He attended McDonald Elementary as a preschooler, graduated from Fordson High School and attended Henry Ford College, Wayne State University, Madonna University and Grand Valley State University, according to the Arab American News. He joined the district in 2007 as a special education teacher at Stout Middle School and Edsel Ford High School. He called Dearborn "the biggest small town" and summed up the city in one word: resilient, in The Bolt interview.

He told The Bolt he had not originally planned to pursue the top job. When former Superintendent Glenn Maleyko left in fall 2025 to become Michigan's state superintendent of public instruction, Esseily's first instinct was not to apply. He said becoming superintendent was never a goal, but colleagues encouraged him.

The board hired the Michigan Leadership Institute to run the search, which drew 23 applicants, according to district records. First-round interviews were livestreamed April 14-16. Three finalists emerged: Esseily, former Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart and Grosse Pointe assistant superintendent Moussa Hamka, according to the district. After Ahart dropped out, Esseily went head-to-head with the remaining candidate through community meetings, staff sessions and a final interview.

The Board of Education approved Esseily's three-year contract 7-0 on June 22. He is the first Arab American and first Muslim to lead Dearborn Public Schools, a district of about 20,000 students and Michigan's third largest.

The district's final scheduled in-person bond information meeting is Thursday, Oct. 22, at 6 p.m. at Long Elementary, 3100 Westwood St. Early in-person voting begins Saturday, Oct. 24. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.