Chelsea school district students will find reconfigured schools when classes start Tuesday
Chance Ireland, of Lockers, Bleachers and Cabinets of Georgia, applies a safety grip tape to a section of the new bleachers recently at South Meadows Elementary in Chelsea.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
South Meadows School will house third through fifth grades, while Beach Middle School will be home to grades six through eight.
The changes follow the closing of Pierce Lake Elementary School at the end of last school year. Third- and fourth-graders attended Piece Lake last year, while fifth- and sixth-graders went to South Meadows and seventh- and eighth-graders to Beach Middle School. Students in kindergarten through second grade will remain at North Creek Elementary School.
South Meadows School custodian Anna Remynse pushes a cart of boxes into the new wing of the school.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Summer construction projects have added a new gymnasium and music rooms to South Meadows. The projects had been planned since 2008 as part of bond-financed construction work and were not part of the reconfiguration decision. “Now that we’ve made the decision to close Pierce Lake, it’s nice to have the additional space,” said Superintendent Dave Killips.
“The kids will see some tremendous upgrades at the playground, as well," he said. The playground is now handicapped-accessible.
Declining enrollment and the need to cut costs made led to the decision to close Pierce Lake on Freer Road. “We will save $400,000 (in operational costs) on an annual basis," Killips said. The district no longer has to pay administration salaries, custodial costs, and utility bills at Pierce Lake. However, no teachers were laid off to make these changes. In fact, Killips said, the school closing probably saved jobs.
Nine years ago, enrollment stood at just around 3,000 students. Now it is down to 2,500 students, he said.
South Meadows had 650 students roaming its halls 12 years ago. This year, the total will be 100 less than that, even with three grades in the school, instead of two.
The district held public forums before deciding to close Pierce Lake, which allowed the public, including parents, to voice their concerns about what would be cut from the school district to help reduce deficit.
“We asked them, ‘What’s more important, where kids go to school, or low class sizes and the quality of programming,’” said Killips. He said that the public opted for the quality of programming and low class sizes.
High utility costs made Pierce Lake the logical choice for closing, he said. South Meadows, a 50-year-old building, has been fitted over the years with new heating and cooling, new insulation and more energy efficient doors and windows, he said.
Comments
julieswhimsies
Sun, Sep 5, 2010 : 11:29 a.m.
I lived in Chelsea for 28 years. All three of my children went through the Chelsea School System. When the district first proposed the construction of a brand new elementary school (Pierce) many of us objected. We did not see the need. I toured the new building soon after it opened. It's energy inefficiency was shocking. This was bureaucratic short-sightedness at its best. I am truly amazed that there has not been more of a public outcry about this waste!
Barbara
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 4:31 p.m.
What the heck! Why wasn't Pierce Lake set up when built for saving heating costs. You knew then that prices would go up. Now you have yet another empty building not being used. Just what is the plans for this building NOW? This just seems like another "let's sweep it under the rug and the stupid people won't miss it"!!!
bluehoo
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 1:01 p.m.
RE: buy Michigan comments. I'm a strong shop local person, try to 3/50, but for all of us there is a limit to how much we can do that. I know the school has local architect/build firm--and this could have been a subcontract the school didn't directly control. What I do know--there are very few Michigan firms that do this (though, yes a few)--and those firms are trying to get work all over the region and country (so they are doing schools in all kinds of places). This particular firm is a small 5 year old company, only a handful of employees (laid off and starting a new business perhaps??) and obviously offered something none of the other companies did that met some particular need here--maybe price, maybe followup service, who knows. We've got to be balanced, look for local options yes--but I don't want to be trapped into only local if that doesn't provide what I need for my situation.
YO
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 11:59 a.m.
Maybe the Michiganders that don't want to pay Michigan prices should move to the states that they support.
robyn
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 11:30 a.m.
It's a shame they spent so much money on Pierce Lake Elementary and it can't be used. Although the improvements at South Meadows have been in the works for quite some time now. One of my kids is going to be at South Meadows this year, the addition of the music rooms is really a good idea. When my oldest child was at SM and in orchestra - they had to be bussed over to Beach several times a week for music and gym. This took 'learning time' away from the students and it was a bit of a hassle for the kids. The only thing I have reservations about is the fact that the kids are going to be graded (report cards) every 6 weeks rather than three times per year (each trimester). As it was explained to me - they used to send out progress reports at about 9 weeks - three weeks prior to grades. This is apparently a BAD idea because some kids 'give up' and don't try to improve their grades if they are too far behind. And parents either don't get or don't respond to the progress reports so the kids who are not doing as well and 'give up' don't have support at home either. Grading them every 6 weeks gives them a chance to 'start over'. The grade for the first 6 weeks will be averaged with the grade for the end of the trimester. So basically if a kid is at a C after 6 weeks and improves their grade at the end for an A (2+4=6 / 2 = 3 = B) they will receive a B. Not sure how great this idea is. I have to wonder if it will hurt students that use the progress reports and meetings with their teachers as a way to improve their grades before the end of the trimester grading. Also - If they think a child is doing poorly after 6 weeks and won't improve their grade if they get a progress report - what makes them think a hard grade will (especially a poor grade) induce them to do better the second 6 weeks? Especially if they know that poor grade is going to have an effect upon a better grade by pulling it down to a lower grade? Makes no sense to me.
Heady99
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 9:07 a.m.
Maybe Michiganders need to get real about how much less things cost out a state - living here is not cheap and I have found it is much cheaper to go out of state to buy things - even going to college out of state can be cheaper. So maybe we should rethink the prices that are charged here. Don't blame Chelsea Schools for trying to save money.
MichGirl
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 8:21 a.m.
I had the same thought as BigMike. Surely there is someone in MI who could have done the same work? Is there a process and policy in place within the school district to assure that we consider "Michigan First" before going out of state? It surely seems like the right thing to do in these days of high unemployment. Let's give our own "village" the first shot, assuming quality is a constant.
chelseamom
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 7:44 a.m.
The bleachers are new as part of our new gym. The community passed a bond measure to finance the building of a gym and music room at the school. I'm guessing that company came in with the lowest bid.
BigMike
Sat, Sep 4, 2010 : 5:59 a.m.
With all this talk of declining budgets, why oh why did the Chelsea Public Schools hire a business from Georgia to refurbish their bleachers?