Reconfiguration changes include the addition of a sixth-grade wing to MacDonald Middle School, in East Lansing.

Red Cedar Elementary School is expected to be fully converted for administrative uses by 2014, and the reconfiguration changes are set to go into effect at the end of this academic year.

Board member Patrick Riley said he believes the school closing shouldn’t be looked at as a loss for the school, because the building can be used for administrative purposes.

“This decision is better than if the building was loss and sold,” he said. “I think this change is the right move, and I don’t want to wait until next year or next month to see it through.”

The decision is the final installment in a number of problems that have plagued the Red Cedar Elementary School throughout the year. In March, an East Lansing resident filed an anonymous complain calling the closure a discriminatory act, since Red Cedar has the highest percentage of minority students in the area.

The investigation later was closed by the Department of Education.

Because of the school’s close proximity to the Spartan Village Apartments – an area heavily used by MSU international and graduate students, faculty and their families – many community members, such as Karen Hoene, an East Lansing resident and mother of three, voiced their opposition to the matter, saying t takes away a great sense of diversity to the area.

“Families decide to move to East Lansing because they want a diverse community,” Hoene said. “They want a school system that has a close proximity to the (MSU) and is walkable for their children. This will change if the (Red Cedar Elementary School) is closed.”

Although the decision was opposed by many community members, Board Secretary Jay Todd acknowledged that this change was something that had to happen, and will lead to lower costs of current facilities.

“The metrics we would base our decision against this issue are confusing,” he said. “This change (was) imminent.”