FERNDALE - An elementary school will be closed, and sixth-graders in the Ferndale School District will be moving to middle schools, but not until the 2013-14 school year.
The Ferndale School Board unanimously approved the decision Tuesday night, Nov. 22, ending more than a year of discussions and research about what the district can do to best use aging buildings without increasing costs.
All families in the district are likely to be affected because, as part of the decision, attendance boundaries will be redrawn.
Exactly which elementary school will close will be decided in coming months. And exactly how the sixth-graders will be integrated into the two middle schools is yet to be determined.
The decision comes after months of discussing it with community members. The Facilities Advisory Committee, which was charged with reviewing all district schools and coming up with a plan to best use the current buildings, made the recommendation to the board in the spring.
One reason for the changes is to save money, an estimated $350,000 per year, according to Mark Deebach, district executive director of business and support services. Another is that many of the district's facilities are outdated and in need of repair. An independent assessment of the district showed that $90 million over the next 10 years is needed to get the buildings up to current learning standards.
Building maintenance is one of the areas the district has cut because of tight budgets the past few years.
The facilities committee recommended the district move forward with the changes this year, but board members and district officials thought it would be better to wait a year to have a smooth transition. There are concerns about the 2012-13 school year and students attending a school they know will close, but board members thought the time for transition was more important.
"After considering it more, if it has to happen, it should be done in a way that's good and prepared as well as we can," said outgoing board member Tim Ballew. "The 2012-13 school year would be too soon."
Work to be done includes redrawing attendance areas, developing a new middle school curriculum that includes sixth grade, reassigning teachers and doing transition activities for fifth-graders. Closing a school will result in some layoffs or reduced hours, mostly for maintenance, custodial and secretarial work; no teachers will be laid off due to the move.
The facilities committee reached its recommendation after touring schools, reviewing the independent assessment and brainstorming solutions. Other ideas considered included creating a ninth-grade academy, combing Horizon and Vista middle schools, and closing a school or two and double-shifting students.
The committee eventually came to its recommendation because a few elementary schools are over capacity and the middle schools have the space for the sixth-grade students. By moving sixth-graders and redrawing attendance boundaries, the elementary school populations will drop enough for a school to be eliminated.
