Ypsilanti officials: Ypsilanti-Willow Run merger could affect prosperity of city
Ypsilanti City Council members said the potential consolidation of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts could greatly affect the city and its residents, prompting them to voice their support.
The Ypsilanti City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night in favor of a resolution supporting the consolidation. Council members Brian Robb and Pete Murdock voted against it.
Mayor Paul Schreiber
Mayor Paul Schreiber said the approval or rejection by voters on Nov. 6 could affect the way people view the city and affect the city financially.
Council members said public education is not only a fundamental right of every child, but also is important for the health, wellbeing, vibrancy and prosperity of the city.
Ypsilanti and Willow Run school boards approved placing the question of merging districts on the Nov. 6 general election ballot at a joint meeting on Aug. 8.
Schreiber said when families are considering where they want to live, one of the first questions is usually related to what the school system is like.
"If the answer is the school system has an emergency manager, now that’s a negative," Schreiber said. "If you say, well there’s restructuring and some hope, that’s more positive. I think it's incumbent upon us to understand what the options are and make our voices known because how the school system goes will ultimately have an affect on how the city goes."
Robb said he voted against the resolution because it's ultimately up to the voters to decide on the consolidation.
"I think this is a mistake and goes beyond our scope," he said. "I don't think we should be voting on ballot initiatives."
Council member Daniel Vogt said the consolidation could directly and indirectly affect residents and city operations.
Mayor Pro Tem Lois Richardson said without the consolidation, neither district will be able to survive.
Schreiber said he believes if the consolidation isn't passed, an emergency manager could be put in place.
"I think there will be an emergency manager for both districts," he said. "Public schools are the big equalizer. Kids get put together and get experiences that they maybe wouldn’t have at a smaller, less diverse school."
Schreiber said the city council is charged with making the city attractive and school services are a large part of that.
"This is close to home," he said. " I think we need to build back our public school system."
Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com.Reach her at katreasestafford@annarbor.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
brian
Fri, Oct 19, 2012 : 4:34 a.m.
Think I will run for Mayor. F-the historic district and make some calls, yes I said make some calls to companies to buy the Water Street District. Ypsi needs to stop advertising and get on the freaking horn to get someone to build on that property. Get off your butt's and make some calls. No housing on that property.
The Black Stallion3
Thu, Oct 18, 2012 : 10:46 p.m.
This is merging 2 negatives which will no doubt produce a negative.
Jay Thomas
Thu, Oct 18, 2012 : 10:37 p.m.
So much negativity and doubt. I think Ypsi and Willow Run make a great couple.;)
pseudo
Thu, Oct 18, 2012 : 9:07 p.m.
wayyy off base, possibly delusional. simple fact: Ypsilanti schools are among the lowest performing schools in the state and have been for more than a generation: bottom 10%. everybody knows it. you can look that up. parents look it up all the time. local control has had ZERO impact on that. our schools are bad enough that companies in the area won't relocate people into our district. real estate agents openly persuade new home buyers to look elsewhere based on the schools. a financial manager will make no difference in this conversation. this is not new, we had that conversation when we moved here. as for public schools being the big equalizer, perhaps our mayor and council members haven't noticed that the race and class demographics in public schools don't even come close to reflecting the race and class demographics in the city and township. kids no longer attend these schools on an equal footing with the rest of the community. these schools no longer offer an experience with diversity that is reflective of this community. just posing the question about merging with willow run got 250+ parents to pull their kids from Ypsilanti schools. somebody is going to have to do a better job of selling this idea because so far, I am not hearing anything that aligns with the data to say that the students will be better off in a merged system. i agree that we need to rebuild our schools this isn't the way to do it