After more than six hours of deliberation, the East Lansing School Board moved to pass a proposal to reconfigure five of the district’s six elementary schools and formally close Red Cedar Elementary School in the 2016-2017 school year.
Much to the chagrin of an auditorium scattered with red-shirted residents supporting Red Cedar, the board came to its split 4-3 decision after hours of contention, public comment and controversy.
The decision will get the cogs turning toward putting a renewal of a current debt levy millage for the school to a vote in the February 2012 election with the intent to renovate and reconfigure the elementary schools.
If the millage is passed, Donley, Glencairn, Whitehills, Pinecrest and Marble elementary schools will be reconfigured as K-5 buildings, moving the sixth grade students to MacDonald Middle School, while discontinuing the school use of the Red Cedar building.
An alternate purpose or use for the Red Cedar school building was not decided upon.
School Board President Rima Addiego motioned to move the proposal forward, and mentioned the initial $62 million proposed for the project could be slightly reduced by using funds already available to the school in addition to the potential millage money.
Discussions between the board, superintendent and others will continue as further details for the plan are hammered out.
The issue came to a head when Superintendent David Chapin suggested a route for the schools to reconfigure and renovate five of the district’s six elementary schools and close Red Cedar, 1110 Narcissus Drive. The project would cost about $62 million and would be paid for by extending a pre-existing debt levy on taxpayers, which would be put to a to vote in February 2012 if moved forward.
At its Sept. 8 meeting, the board passed a 4-3 motion to close Red Cedar, sparking an outcry from many community members throughout the district. The school is located close to MSU’s campus, providing an education for the children of some of the university’s international students, faculty and alumni.
MSU Vice President for Finance and Operations and Treasurer Fred Poston wrote a letter addressing the board on Sept. 6, stating the university would consider investing in student housing elsewhere if the school serving those in its housing community at Spartan Village Apartments was closed.
“MSU will continue to provide housing opportunities for international students in the future,” Poston said in the letter. “However, where our long-term housing plans will depends in large part on whether we believe the school district has developed a sustainable plan for the future.”
Students who had gone through Red Cedar also gave testimonies at the meeting to the opportunities their elementary experience gave them.
Former Red Cedar student Alena Tibebe, whose father is an African studies professor at MSU, said she had always felt connected to the school and her classmates even though she was not originally from the U.S.
“Even though I was from a different country, I still felt I was at home,” she said at the meeting.
“The school had so much effect on people, and I really think that school is necessary for our community.”
Other public bodies also have participated in the discussion in support of keeping Red Cedar open, including MSU and the East Lansing City Council.
At the school board’s Sept. 19 public comment session, East Lansing Councilmember Kevin Beard spoke to the board on behalf of the council to keep all of the schools open on the grounds of zoning issues and neighborhood preservation concerns.
During the public comment of the board’s Sept. 26 meeting, East Lansing resident Alec Lloyd argued the concept of closing any school was not an appropriate choice for the community because of the fluctuations in the state legislature and economy.
There was some skepticism among other community members, and several residents voiced their support of the board’s initial motion.
East Lansing resident Lindsey Little-Clayton said the argument that other schools were not as diverse as Red Cedar were inaccurate.
“To imply that Red Cedar is the only school with diversity is both wrong and offensive,” Little-Clayton said.
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“Each school is special and a gem in its own right.”
The board was as divided as the crowd on the issue, with some opposed and some still ready to move the proposal forward.
Some board members wanted to push the motion forward to ensure the vote on the debt levy and the school’s subsequent bond would be on the February 2012 ballot to maximize the district’s monetary benefit, while others disagreed.
East Lansing School Board President George Brookover said he would not support the motion because it was so motivated by the bond’s time peg and the monetary aspect of the situation, not accurately taking into account the entirety of the situation.
“Money has been the bully on our playground for the past several years,” Brookover said.
“I suggest that we pause to decide if the money bully, in the end, is going to dictate our actions.”
Though the motion is controversial, Chapin said he felt the initial proposal should go through and hoped the community could come to a valid compromise.
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