Red Cedar Finances on Agenda for Tonight's ELPS Board Work Session

Tonight’s Board of Education work session is the first chance for the seven trustees to discuss specific financing for the reopening of Red Cedar Elementary. The 6 p.m. meeting will be held on the lower level of East Lansing High School

The issue continues to be divisive, and Trustee Kath Edsall issued an apology last week for comments published last Tuesday, here:

“I would like to apologize for any characterization of those opposed to the plan to place STEAM at Red Cedar. I have been under a great deal of pressure personally and Board related, and my characterization was not appropriate, nor was it helpful to the conversation as we try to address the many issues that affect all of us,” Edsall said Jan. 27.

The agenda for the meeting includes Board discussions on two main topics: Academic/Technology/Finance, and Innovative Programming.

Under Academic/Technology Finance, the Board will be talking about middle school programming, Project Lead the Way at the high school and a $175,000 commitment to seven schools for one-time needs. Parents from the five current elementary schools have been petitioning the Board to focus on the needs of their students instead of working to reopen Red Cedar.

Under “Innovative Programming”, the Board will discuss both early childhood programming and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) programming slated for Red Cedar. The agenda includes the feasibility, including the finances, of the programming. They are slated to update the public on the proposed community-based Financial Advisory Board as well as discuss the budget and expenditures re: Red Cedar.

Last Monday, the board approved a budget adjustment of $564,000 toward the reopening of Red Cedar, which you can read about here.

The Board will also discuss which students are likely to attend Red Cedar, and the timeline for reopening that was released two weeks ago by, ELPS Superintendent Dr. Robyne Thompson.

No actions will be taken by the trustees tonight but public comment will be allowed after the Board discussion. The Board is limiting each person to three minute statements, although individuals will be given additional time after all other speakers have had a turn.

Meanwhile, parents associated with the group “4ELSchoolKids,” which has been circulating petitions asking the Board to slow down the process to reopen Red Cedar, have sent the trustees four pages worth of questions that they would like to see answered before the reopening proceeds.

“A significant portion of the community joins us in asking you suspend further implementation of this resolution and focus on the implementation of our current reconfiguration and educational needs of our kids,” reads the letter.

Questions include how reopening Red Cedar will affect the achievement gap between elementary school students, what is the role of the administrative team in collecting data regarding the reopening and what efforts are being made toward community engagement.

Group members also wonder, in the letter, about the effects of an estimated 150 new Schools of Choice students needed to fill Red Cedar on both the East Lansing and Lansing School Districts.

Transportation issues, student retention, the proposed Financial Advisory Committee and a resolution issued in 2012 to mandate the reopening of Red Cedar, all need to be clarified, the letter states.

Finally, the letter warns the Board that unless they begin answer their questions, the Board will have difficulty in persuading the public to support any upcoming bond issues.

“We need to pass a bond to upgrade our aging elementary school buildings, but asking people to give more money to a board that is seen as financially unaware and unresponsive to the community will be incredibly difficult,” the letter states.

Read the full letter here.