ELPS District Boundaries to be Reconfigured by End of 2018

Above: Dori Leyko

East Lansing Schools Superintendent Dori Leyko has laid out a timeline to reconfigure the boundaries of East Lansing’s elementary schools by the end of this calendar year.

Leyko told the East Lansing Board of Education at their meeting Monday night that she hopes to start in July the process of realigning the populations of the District’s five elementary schools into six districts once Red Cedar Elementary School is open in the fall of 2021.

The process will begin when Leyko and her “cabinet” gather current population information to provide to school administrators during their August retreat. In September, she would like to get initial feedback from the Board of Education in a work session or subcommittee meeting. In October, Leyko plans to present the redistricting plan to the Board.

“Following that, we would hold two public hearings to get feedback from folks,” Leyko said. “In December, we would make a recommendation to the Board to take action so we can start communicating the boundary shifts in January.”

Asked by ELi about the timeline for changing boundaries, Leyko responded that "it has not yet been determined when the boundaries will go into effect; however, it could be as soon as Fall 2019 in order to reduce transitions for some students and to “right size” our school populations as some of them will not be able to move back into their new buildings with their current populations." 

Red Cedar is currently undergoing the final steps of Phase 1 of its renovation, and will house the population of Glencairn Elementary School for the 2018-2019 school year.

Currently, Red Cedar is scheduled to house preschool and up to seven sections of elementary school classes for the 2021/2022 school year. On Monday, Lekyo also laid out a timeline for choosing what type of programming would be in place at Red Cedar.

She plans to establish a committee to research programming, including Montessori and Reggio type programming in January of 2019. The committee would make a presentation to the administration or perhaps the bond work group in March and gather feedback. Leyko hopes to come to the Board with a suggestion, followed by public hearings and a final presentation to the Board in June.

In other news:

Glencairn Elementary will have three incoming classes of kindergarteners this fall, Leyko announced. Because the population is housed in Red Cedar, there is room for the additional students. The construction of the new Glencairn Elementary School includes a thirteenth classroom which can house the additional section in future years as they move through the grades.

Security measures have been installed in the high school and middle school this week, including alarms on seventeen doors at the High School to restrict access, and a notification system to let administrators know if a door has been kept open for longer than a designated time. At MacDonald Middle School, a new buzzer system requires a person to be allowed access to the main school building from the office and three additional doors from the main office have been locked and require key cards for entry. The elementary buzzers installed this spring will be repurposed for the Before and After Care programs run by the City of East Lansing.

School safety Officer Steve Whelan was recognized by the Board and administration for the twelve years he has served the District. Whelan is returning to regular patrol with the East Lansing Police Department.

“Thank you for what you do for our kids and what you do for our community,” said Board President Kate Powers.

The Board also recognized the work of Marble 5^th grader Luci Hylen who put together a bake sale on Sunday at Edgewood United Church to raise money for RAICES, an organization which offers assistance to immigrant families. Luci and her friends raised more than $2,000, Trustee Karen Hoene said. Donations can still be dropped off at Edgewood through Thursday.

Community members have another month to gather signatures to run for one of the four open seats on the East Lansing Board of Education this fall. The filing deadline to turn in signatures is 4 p.m. Tuesday July 24 at the East Lansing City Clerk’s Office. Elections for the four year terms will be held Nov. 6.

Trustee Hoene is writing a letter to the Michigan Department of Education and the State Board of Education objecting to proposed changes in the state’s social studies standards. She also urged people interested in the issue to attend a public forum on the new standards from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Wednesday June 27 at the Michigan State Historical Museum’s library. Public comments can be submitted online until June 30.