Well, last nights meeting of the BOEs was interesting to say the least. Thank you to the 100+ people in attendance. As we learned last night some board members have done some preliminary work to identify possible synergies between the two School Districts. That ended up coming down to a merger of sorts between the districts. The legal term is annexation of WLPS by Ann Arbor. Some of the benefits and concerns were laid out last night and many of the unanswered questions will need to be addressed in the next couple of weeks. One thing that is very important to understand is that a decision of this magnitude is bigger than the seven of us on the WL BOE. This would be something that would go to the public of both School Districts for a vote (possibly in November). We passed a resolution last night as did the Ann Arbor BOE to continue to explore the possibilities of the two districts becoming one. Some of the possible benefits laid out last night included expansion of education programs at all grade levels. The possibility of great pay for the Teachers in Whitmore Lake. Access to greater club sports. The growth and expansion of the district. The possibility of re-opening the Middle School building. It was very clear last night, the preservation of Whitmore Lake in our schools is very important. The concern was shared by both boards and the A2 BOE made it very clear they see Whitmore Lake Schools be a continuation of their Community Schools line of thinking. ie: the schools would remain Whitmore Lake High School, Whitmore Lake Elementary School, and so on. Some of the key points were the increase foundation allowance from the state from the approximately $7,100 we receive today to the approximate $9,100 under the annexation proposal. Which would amount to nearly $2,000,000 dollars. This would solidify the immediate future of the district. One thing shared by Trustee Bob Henry was I think it’s more important that we have a middle school and a high school and elementary school—it’s more important than having a Whitmore Lake school board. If there’s a way for those schools to grow and be prosperous, you can have my job. I concur, as long as we can be given the assurances necessary to preserve our buildings, identity, teachers and a voice in the future, this could be a great thing for our community.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 14:53:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015