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FPS Parents: Busing Across Town Makes No Sense; When Kids Could Walk
Topic Started: Mar 20 2010, 05:17 PM (510 Views)
Sage
anonymous
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http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20100319/NEWS06/100319007/Farmington-parents-students-rally-for-walkable-boundaries

Farmington parents, students rally for walkable boundaries
BY STACY JENKINS • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • MARCH 19, 2010

It doesn’t make sense to Farmington school district parent Melody Herr that children in the current East Middle School attendance area would bypass the school, while riding a bus across town next school year, especially since those students walk to school now.

“I feel very passionate about kids being able to walk to school,” she said during a Friday morning rally outside East Middle School on Middlebelt.

Herr helped start the Safe Routes to School program at East — a statewide initiative that encourages students to walk to and from school.

“Now it’s like we’re saying, ‘We didn’t mean it,’” Herr said.

Herr was joined by a handful of parents and plenty of students Friday morning, to let the school board know they want the other options to be considered before moving the nearby Beechview Elementary and East Middle School (near 11 Mile and Middlebelt) attendance areas to Warner Middle School (14 Mile and Orchard Lake) for grades 5-6 and Dunckel Middle School (12 Mile and Orchard Lake) for grades 7-8.

Known as Option 4, the proposed redistricting plan was crafted by district administrators with considerations such as student cohort retention, building capacities, socioeconomic blend and contiguous boundaries. North-end students would attend Warner for grades 5-6 and Dunckel for grades 7-8, while south-end students would attend Power for grades 5-6 and East for 7-8.

The administrators Tuesday recommended Option 4 for adoption next Thursday, March 25, at 6 p.m. at North Farmington High School. Options 1 and 3 would keep the East attendance area at East for grades 7-8.
“We want people to know there will be a vote and that there are options,” said Joy Gradin, who organized Friday’s rally.

Gradin said she’s “not trying to start a fight” by protesting with signs outside of the school, but rather she wants to raise awareness and let people know they can contact the board of education via e-mail at boardofed@farmington.k12.mi.us or they can fill out a survey at www.farmington.k12.mi.us through March 23. Gradin said, however, the survey focuses on the process, rather than the proposals. The FPS Web site also has the redistricting proposals.

“This is about awareness, at the board level and awareness at the community level,” she said.

Gradin said she appreciates that the school board is listening to the community through the process.
“It’s distressing to me that people think the board is going to do what it’s going to do,” she said. “(Parents) have an obligation and a responsibility to communicate what they think. The board has a wonderful opportunity to look at other options.”

Parent Annette Meigs participated in Friday’s rally because she believes kids should be allowed to walk to school.
“It just seems silly to bus children who are capable of walking to school, which most of them do,” she said. “It promotes health and well-being. It gets them out and exercising.”

Parent Janet McCormick said adding buses under Option 4 doesn’t make sense, either.
“I don’t believe it’s the best financial decision for the district as a whole,” she said. “It’s supposed to be about saving money.”

Herr said she’s not comfortable with the rationale under Option 4 that deals with socioeconomics.
“I don’t think that’s a good reason to bus kids across town,” she said. “Our kids deserve better. They’ve gone through a lot of change. And this makes no financial sense.”

Herr said having a school in the neighborhood that residents cannot attend is detrimental to property values.
“Our home values have already been hit hard,” she said. “We don’t need another reason to lower them.”

Another rally is scheduled for 7 a.m. Monday, starting in the Kroger parking lot at the corner of Middlebelt and 11 Mile and moving south on Middlebelt to East Middle School.


sjenkins@hometownlife.com | (313) 222-2369
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Sage
anonymous
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Ms. Mang, a few weeks ago at a BOE meeting, asked Mr. Liepa about (paraphrase) saving money by reducing bussing and having kids go to the schools closest to them--and walking like they used to before the 5/6 configuration.

... effectively redrawing district boundaries to make much more sense.

She was stonewalled and told that there is school of choice, which is not the point she was making.

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George
Advanced Member
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Randy will NEVER admit that the LI was a BIG mistake. The only way to have anything changed in this district would be to have a NEW Superintendent....... :blink:
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LPS Reformer
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The schools exist to educate, not employ.
I don't think Randy has ever admitted he was wrong. Anyone think of a time he has?
“Child Abuse” means different things to different people....
----Randy Liepa 8/9/12
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Ava
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So what? Who cares?
Sage
Mar 20 2010, 05:22 PM
Ms. Mang, a few weeks ago at a BOE meeting, asked Mr. Liepa about (paraphrase) saving money by reducing bussing and having kids go to the schools closest to them--and walking like they used to before the 5/6 configuration.

... effectively redrawing district boundaries to make much more sense.

She was stonewalled and told that there is school of choice, which is not the point she was making.

I caught that too. Even board members can't get straight answers.

School of Choice does not save money. He totally ignored her point.
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Deleted User
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Reconfigured schools nearly ready to shine for new year

By Susan Steinmueller • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • August 29, 2010

Finishing touches are being put on newly reconfigured Farmington School District schools.

With the new school year starting in less than two weeks, district facilities architect Ron Aten paused at the newly re-named Warner Upper Elementary School Tuesday and said that things are going well.

“We went to work as soon as school was out,” he said. “We bid the work previous to that. Things are right on schedule.”

That includes the installation of the school's new sign last week.

The district closed four elementary schools and reconfigured its other elementary and middle schools last year as a result of budget cuts.

Elementary schools now serve K-4 instead of K-5.

The middle schools were split into two middle schools — East and Dunckel, serving grades 5-6; and two upper elementaries, Power and Warner, serving grades 7-8.

Changes to the schools included reconfiguring 10 classrooms at Warner and Power, remodeling two classrooms at Wood Creek Elementary, and adding lockers at Warner, Power, East and Dunckel.

“The tech ed rooms were no longer needed so we completely gutted them,” said Aten, as he walked through Warner Tuesday to show some of the changes.

“There was an auxiliary gym that became two classrooms,” he said.

Playgrounds are still under construction.

Rich Griffin, field superintendent for contractor McCarthy & Smith of Farmington Hills, said all the changes were made with recycling in mind to save money and keep materials from landfills.

“The district made an effort to re-utilize as much material as they could,” he said. “So there's a little more of a green aspect to the construction.”

Cheryl Cannon, district executive director of operations, told the school board at its regular meeting Tuesday that the conversions are “98 percent completed.”

“It's all very good news,” she said, considering that it was accomplished in “nine and a half weeks.”

Much work involved transferring items from closed facilities, she said.

“We moved over 8,000 boxes and are still moving boxes.”

Quantcast The American Red Cross

“Kudos to Cheryl and her entire team,” said Supt. Sue Zurvalec. “To think of where we were last spring, and what they are have accomplished in a few short months is astounding, really.”

THE COSTS

Cannon said the one time cost to reconfigure is budgeted at $3.9 million, and is well within budget.

Among other items in that cost are: Buying buses, the cost of moves, the cost to reconfigure a 10 Mile Road building for staff moving from the closed Maxfield Training Center, and 13 additional mobile laptop cart labs.

It all adds up to savings, however.

“The annual yearly savings is estimated at a net of $2,756,700 to come from closing the four elementary schools and MTC, including staff, utilities and other operational costs of buildings,” she said.

“You can see then that the one-time costs are recovered in less than 1.5 years.”

She said the board and community will be provided with an update on the actual costs in October or November, once projects are complete.

ssteinmueller@hometownlife.com | (313) 222-2241
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20100829/NEWS06/8290412/1023/Reconfigured+schools+nearly+ready+to+shine+for+new+year
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Momof4
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According to a friend of mine, Farmington also opened it's school borders and now a lot of kids from Southfield are in the high schools.

Because of the new configuration, she took her daughter out of FPS and put her into a Livonia private school. Her high school age daughter also comes to Livonia to go to school.

I'm sure Farmington will enjoy the same kind of "cost savings" Livonia did... poor FPS.
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