Empty desks, empty classrooms, and empty hallways have become common in Southfield Public Schools. Every school in the district except MacArthur has unused space.
This is a problem that isn’t unique to the Southfield school district. It is becoming the trend in districts such as Detroit, Garden city, and Pontiac to combine high schools. Farmington is also considering it.
Even though space is unused, it is heated, cleaned and maintained, and this is worsening the economic burden that Southfield Public Schools is already going through.
To explore cost-saving solutions, the Southfield Board of Education assembled a 2009 task force at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. The 35-member task force is composed of representatives from every Southfield public school, Southfield parents and other citizens.
Their findings were presented at the School Board meeting on Dec. 7. The task force proposed that the district close Leonhard and Eisenhower Elementary schools, along with Southfield-Lathrup High School.
Southfield High School, according to their recommendations, would be turned into a tenth through twelfth grade school, and every ninth grader in the district would be sent to Thompson Middle School.
“The Board of Education has made no final decision on what to do, and the task force’s idea is simply a recommendation,” said Deputy Superintendent Ken Siver. “But the district will have to make some changes because we just can’t afford everything we have.”
Closing Leonhard and Eisenhower would force the other elementary schools in the district to take in their students.
Alumni from Leonhard and Eisenhower are already upset that their elementary school could possibly close.
“I think it is crazy that they are going to (possibly) close down Eisenhower,” said senior Brianna Wilson. “I won’t be able to go back and visit my teachers or look at the school where I got my start.”
The proposal to close Leonhard and Eisenhower is bold, but the proposal to close one of the two high schools would have a larger impact on the district.
Southfield-Lathrup click here is operating at 60 percent capacity, according to Siver. At maximum capacity the school can house 2,800 students, but currently it only has 1,355 enrolled.
Southfield High School, including University High, which is a separate school inside Southfield High, is operating at 31 percent. At maximum, SHS can hold 4,500 students but currently holds only 1,401.
Some students are concerned that combining the schools would cause larger class sizes, while others are concerned that the district rivalries will erupt into fights.
“SHS is already filled enough,” said junior Elonte Stevens. “The hallways are real crowded. If they add the population of a whole additional school here, kids will be falling out the windows, and a lot of S-L and SHS kids don’t get along with each other. Combining the schools is asking for a fight to break out.”
The proposal further recommends that Thompson Middle School become an academy for ninth grade students. Many suburban districts in the area have created academies for their ninth graders because ninth grade is an academically precarious year for many students. The academy would, in theory, work to ease the transition from middle to high school. In an academy setting, the ninth graders would have more freedom than in middle school, but not as much as in high school.
Over the next several weeks the Board will be deliberating on the proposal of the citizen’s task force, and they will be looking into other possible solutions.
But before any final decisions are made, Siver promises that there will be multiple opportunities for Southfield residents and staff members to voice their opinions.