Yalley Sackett has lived in East Lansing since 2006 when his family moved from Israel several years ago so his father could pursue a postdoctoral degree at MSU. He has attended Red Cedar — which is directly across the street from university property on Harrison Road — since kindergarten.

But by 2016, the school where the second grader began learning English will be no more, forcing many of the students who go there, including the children of MSU students and faculty, to relocate.

After enrollment numbers shifted toward the northern end of the East Lansing School District, board members and administration decided to close the elementary school and eventually repurpose it.

Liesel Carlson, co-president of the Red Cedar School Association, said a large portion of the student population at the school are MSU-affiliated — ranging from children of professors to graduate students. She said having the school so close to the university was benefit to both, and it is disheartening to see it go.

“I think it’s really shocking,” she said. “I think it’s every school’s dream to be located next to a university.”

Closure of Red Cedar
On Jan. 23 the East Lansing School Board passed a resolution to formally announce that Red Cedar would be closing sometime before 2016 regardless of the outcome of the bond election. The decision to close Red Cedar was based on enrollment trends and census data, superintendent David Chapin said.

It has been met with some controversy, including a filed complaint against the districting alleging the board’s Sept. 26, 2011 decision to close the school discriminates against students based on race, color or national origin. Some board members claimed there wasn’t enough notice of the school’s closure.

East Lansing School Board President Rima Addiego said despite the discontent, the decision to close Red Cedar was made with the support of the community.

“We have done our homework,” Addiego said. “We have invited the public. They have spoken.”

Now, Yalley Sackett and other students from Red Cedar Elementary are waiting for the community to vote on a $53 million proposal to renovate and reconfigure five of the six elementary schools.

Still, members of the community feel there has been no educational justification for the school’s closure.

Carlson said the entire process and reasoning behind the school’s closure has not been clear.

“We’ve been given lots of reasons for why this school, but none of them have added up,” Carlson said.

Superintendent David Chapin said he feels the conversation about Red Cedar and the bond proposal has moved away from the central issues of investment in elementary education, grade level reset and updated technology.

“(Race) was absolutely not a factor in the decision to close Red Cedar,” Chapin said. “There’s a lot of issues that have been rolled into this conversation that I think have distracted from a broader conversation.”

Multicultural aspect
The Colombian national anthem played as Red Cedar students entered the gym Feb. 10. The whole school gathers each morning to celebrate a different country represented in the school, which houses students from 46 countries and 41 languages.

Each week a new country is selected for morning celebration and every day the students learn something new about the country, such as how to greet one another in that country’s language.

On Feb. 10, the students shook each other’s hands and said, “Buenos días,” which means good morning in Spanish.

Carlson said because of the many international residents and students of MSU, the diverse population at the school feel welcomed and accepted.

Ella Sackett said she is self-conscious of her accent, but feels welcome in the Red Cedar community because of the diverse presence it’s gained from international students and faculty at MSU.

“I feel like Red Cedar is a chance for a better future because the kids will learn to be tolerant and to see who people are,” Ella Sackett said. “That will be there forever, even if they won’t remember Red Cedar. It stays in the body. It shapes you to be a better person.”

Trish Riley, a member of the Committee to Support the East Lansing Public Schools, said the loss of Red Cedar will have a positive impact on the community by spreading the cultural diversity from the school to other areas of the district.

“The potential for what’s magnificent about the Red Cedar community will have a larger impact on the community,” Riley said.

District’s future
After its closure, the staff and students at Red Cedar will be moved to Glencairn Elementary School, 939 N. Harrison Road, which is 1.5 miles down the road, an issue Ella Sackett said will alienate students of international parents who have little access to transportation.

“There was so much ignorance and arrogance,” Ella Sackett said. “They can’t travel in the nice SUVs or go wherever they want. They will miss the bus, and they will stay home. The whole sense of community at that school will be lost.”

Currently, about 80-85 percent of students are transported to Red Cedar, and the area will continue to be serviced by the district, Chapin said.

Matthew Phillips, an instructor in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, is a father of two children at Red Cedar. He said the loss of the school will have a negative impact on the community, and the environment at Glencairn will not mimic Red Cedar.

“What Red Cedar provides cross-culturally is as valuable in education as what’s happening in the curriculum,” he said. “I think on a human level, this school ripples out in ways that we don’t even perceive.”

Addiego said she is sad the board had to close a school down, but felt it was necessary.

“We have heard from our community, and I’m very glad we did,” Addiego said. “It is our responsibility to be stewards of these wonderful schools and to provide the best possible academic opportunities for all the students in East Lansing.”