School board votes to keep Whitmer open another year
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 1:35 PM EST
By DIANA DILLABER MURRAY
Of The Oakland Press
PONTIAC – In a surprise move, the Pontiac Board of Education voted to keep Whitmer Human Resource Center open one more year to give the district time to relocate students and programs as they restructure the district.
However, the majority of the children who now attend WHRC, near the city’s downtown, will move to other schools in the fall as planned.
Remaining in the WHRC building will be 350 students in kindergarten through sixth grade, several classes of full-day preschoolers, central enrollment, the teachers’ computer laboratory and meetings rooms, and several ancillary district services.
Whitmer was among the nine schools that were to close for the 2009-2010 school year in the restructuring plan approved by the school board Jan. 26. Discussion about the possibility of keeping the building open for one more year came up at a school board retreat at Oakland Schools over the weekend.
By fall semester, the district will be almost half its size. Officials plan to close one high school, a middle school and six elementary buildings, requiring school administrators to make major scheduling changes for students, teachers and school buses.
On Monday, acting Superintendent Linda Paramore made an official request to the board to keep Whitmer open one more year to allow some flexibility as the major transition is carried out over the summer and next school year.
“I’m recommending a reevaluation next school year,” she said. “I don’t want us to be in the position where we don’t have space. I’m not saying keep WHRC open forever. I’m just saying for the transition.”
Board Vice President Gill Garrett was happy about the proposal because he had argued to keep WHRC open during the meeting Jan. 26, saying he was concerned about moving the district’s new central enrollment office and all the district’s records out of WHRC when it was unclear where there would be space for them.
“We are not sure where we will house the furniture and equipment from the other buildings,” Garrett said.
In addition, Paramore pointed out if the district receives funds from the federal stimulus package to repair buildings, as trustees hope, the district may need the space at WHRC to provide temporary classrooms for students who must be moved while work is being done at their schools.
About 350 children in kindergarten through sixth grade will be at the school for the 2009-2010 school year, Paramore said.
In addition, she recommends moving some of the all-day preschool children to Whitmer, which will bring $240,000 to the district. The district opened a preschool academy at Frost school last year, but has not had the required space to meet the demand for full-day preschool.
The preschool addition will pay for itself,” she said, in terms of dollars and enhancing test scores as the youngsters grow up.
“As the district evaluates where we are in terms of enrollment and whether we have adequate space for ancillary staff, the board will have to take under consideration whether it would remain open beyond the 2009-2010 school year,” Paramore said.
Even as Garrett acclaimed the WHRC decision as a positive one, Trustee Christopher Northcross said he was concerned about leaving open a building that was closed as part of the restructuring plan. He said it means money will be spent keeping open another building that is over capacity for the students served. He compared it to keeping Bethune school open for alternative education two years ago and reopening Frost for the preschool last year after they had been removed from the budget.
“Year after year, the board refused to close buildings,” Northcross said, costing the district millions of dollars.
After both men had their say, board President Damon Dorkins refused to allow what he called “the back and forth” between them. He said both had made their statements well.
In the end, the board unanimously approved keeping the building open for one more year.
Contact staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at (248) 745-4638 or diana.dillaber@oakpress.com.
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