Any time a district decides to close a school, it has an adverse effect on that school’s students and their community.

Residents of housing close to campus, such as Spartan Village, who have enjoyed Red Cedar’s convenient location near Harrison Road will now have to travel farther north to send their kids to school.

Red Cedar Elementary currently provides educational opportunities for the children of international families who journey to MSU for graduate education as well as the children of university faculty. The decision to close Red Cedar will strain MSU’s community ties.

This decision will have a detrimental effect on international families with children who speak English as a second language, or ESL students. The teachers at Red Cedar Elementary are more experienced in advising and assisting these students with their adjustment to a new schooling system. Because a large number of students at Red Cedar come from a variety of diverse backgrounds, they won’t be able to get the same type of education and, as a result, will find it difficult to learn in an unfamiliar, not-as-welcoming environment.

Transitioning schools is a difficult process for any student, especially those who are learning the English language. Asking these students to change schools after they have become comfortable at Red Cedar will only cause them to fall behind and readjust, a process that could have a lifelong negative effect on their education.

Also, the East Lansing School Board’s lack of reasoning for shutting down the school only causes further queries as to how it formed its decision.

The decision on whether or not to close the school was difficult, causing a 4-to-3 vote among the board.

The financial benefit of shutting down the Red Cedar isn’t immediately obvious, especially as
the board is waiting on the East Lansing voters’ approval on Feb. 28 of a $53 million bond proposal to renovate and reconfigure five East Lansing elementary schools.

The bond vote cannot save Red Cedar Elementary from being closed, but it can be looked at as the community’s response and opinion on how to improve other East Lansing schools.

The decision to close Red Cedar Elementary is not one that we agree with because it puts too much pressure on elementary students who can least afford a difficult transition.

Because of the bond between Red Cedar Elementary and MSU, there has to have been better ways to improve the quality of schools in East Lansing, rather than eliminating a school that helps so many students.