Red Cedar Elementary May Re-Open

The doors of Red Cedar Elementary School may be reopened under some form of alternative programming, according to a proposal under discussion by the East Lansing Board of Education.

Board member Kath Edsall introduced a proposal to initiate pre-Kindergarten through 5 programming in the closed elementary school. The motion, to be brought back to the board for action Oct. 12, also included some alternative programming at Donley Elementary School.

“We lost something valuable to this community with the closure of Red Cedar,” Edsall said. “When Red Cedar was closed and the children split up around the district, I feel like they have been marginalized. … For these at-risk group, we are talking access as an important factor when talking about educating all our students.”

Edsall wanted to emphasize that nowhere in her plan is there any discussion of closing any schools in the district. Reopening Red Cedar under alternative programming – school systems such as Montessori, International Baccalaureate or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programming – would be attractive to students who currently seek such programming outside the boundaries of East Lansing. She estimated that ELPS loses about 200 kids to other public school districts and countless others to private schools which may be retained in the district with alternative programming.

“I don’t want to put any limits on the programming at this time. That would all be part of the discussion,” Edsall said. “These programs will make us more attractive to those who leave our district.”

Board member Kate Powers said she “wholeheartedly supports the motion.”

“We’ve been talking about closing Red Cedar as long as my son has attended Donley and it is a painful issue for this school district and our community. I don’t see us healing until we decide what comes next,” Powers said.

Board member Erin Graham asked that the committee also consider expanding the alternative programming to pre-K through 8^th grade in order to address some of the overcrowding issues at MacDonald Middle School. Board member Karen Hoene also wanted to emphasis the importance of increasing pre-Kindergarten programming for the district, and hopes that an early childhood teacher would be appointed to the committee.

The board voted in November 2012 to close Red Cedar. It was shuttered following the 2012-2013 school year. The Red Cedar neighborhood fought the change but many of students and its entire staff were absorbed into the Glencairn Elementary School, which was converted from a 5-6 building to a K-5 school. Also at that time, all sixth grade students across the district were moved to MacDonald Middle School.

The board cited the closure as necessary to save money in facility costs. The decision was confirmed in another vote in April of 2013 to continue with the closure.

Red Cedar community member Joanne Russell came to the meeting to thank the board for considering any education use of the building that will re-open Red Cedar Elementary School. It is especially welcome with the construction of new international student housing in the neighborhood and recent turnover of homes to young families, she said.

“We are absolutely thrilled that the board is considering an educational purpose for Red Cedar,” she said. “We greatly welcome your consideration of this proposal.”

In addition, resident James Anderson asked that the board hold at least one public forum be held before the board makes any decisions.

If approved in October, the next step will be to create an administrative committee to consider the “social, cultural and academic programming that meets the needs of each schools’ specific populations”. The committee would present its report to the board no later than Dec. 14, 2015. Funding for alternative programming would come from the 2012 Capital Projects Fund.

In other action,

• The board recognized three National Merit Scholarship semifinalists: Adrian Birge, Cedar Drews and Ayley Shortridge.

• Ingham Intermediate School District’s new Superintendent Scott Koenigsknecht was introduced to the board. Mr. Koenigsknecht was most recently superintendent of the Montcalm Area ISD. He was hired by Ingham County in March.

• Dori Leyko, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, and Kris Chapman, director of special education, presented to the board a report on the Multi-Tiered System of Supports. This is the system that ties curriculum and behavior goals for all students, but especially for those in need of interventions, said Leyko. It allows the schools to screen for students who need intervention and then monitor their progress, Chapman said.

Present: Xzavier Odom, junior at East Lansing High School, represented the student body; Erin Graham, Karen Hoene, Yasmina Bouraoui, Kath Edsall, Kate Powers, Hillary Henderson, Board President Nell Kuhnmuench, Superintendent Robyne Thompson.

Absent: none.