It's heartbreaking to hear East Lansing school officials announce budget problems will bring the likely close of Spartan Village Elementary School less than one year after community members fought tooth and nail to keep the building open.
East Lansing Public Schools Superintendent Tom Giblin said Monday the district's preliminary plan to compensate for a projected $4.2 million budget shortfall in the next fiscal year includes the closing of Spartan Village Elementary, 1460 Middlevale Road, the laying off of about 30 teachers and restructuring the district.
In May, the East Lansing school board voted to downsize the Spartan Village school from a kindergarten-to-sixth-grade elementary to a kindergarten-to-second-grade school.
The board was planning to shut down the school to help compensate for a $3.5 million deficit but was met with opposition from the community.
While those who hoped to save East Lansing's most diversely populated elementary school won an honorable battle, it seems the sad state of the economy will win the war. The school district might lose its gem.
In addition to locking the doors of Spartan Village Elementary, Giblin's preliminary ideas also include plans to charge $250 per student to participate in high school sports, eliminate three nursing positions and cut 30 percent of the district's administration costs.
Several personal positions also are flagged to be eliminated.
It's sad but true - East Lansing had a larger school district years ago, but it doesn't anymore. Children have grown up and moved away while their families have stayed behind and left little to no room for younger families to squeeze in.
Although it might seem unfair, when enrollment decreases, state funding does, too. Times have changed and it's time for East Lansing to adjust with less money.
And while it plans to bare the brunt of harder times, the East Lansing school board should remember just because a building's doors have to be shut, the valuable programs that took place within its halls do not have to end.
If the board is seriously considering shutting down Spartan Village Elementary, it also should seriously consider ways to implement many of the school's valuable programs, such as full-day kindergarten, in other buildings.
The end of Spartan Village Elementary shouldn't mean an end to the graces it offered the community.
Perhaps it would do the district good to spread the diversity and mission of Spartan Village Elementary through the halls of Donley, Glencairn, Marble, Pinecrest, Red Cedar and Whitehills elementary schools.
In addition to managing millions of dollars, the East Lansing school board has a responsibility to offer the community the district's finest educational opportunities despite cost restraints.
And - as MasterCard might remind the school district - after all the bills, education is priceless.
