School Board flips: Now Haggerty School is closing this fall

At Monday’s meeting, after a long discussion, the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education voted 5-2 to close Haggerty School for the next school year.
Trustees Sherry Frazier and Susan Featheringill voted no. And, at the end of the meeting, Frazier asked for the issue to be put back on the agenda at the next meeting, April 24.
At its March 27 meeting the board had voted 6-1 to keep the school open for the next school year and set up a committee to look into the preschool program in the district.
Board president Keith Johnston was the lone no vote at the previous meeting and he said he put it on the agenda for another vote on April 10.
He said he talked to a friend who mentioned the water quality at the school is higher in copper and iron than it should be, an ongoing problem.
“It’s more than the water,” Johnston said. He said the California design of the building is inefficient and people have to walk through one classroom to get to another classroom, which is disruptive.
“We could mothball it for a year or two,” he said. “I don’t want to put $10,000 or $30,000 on a boiler … and $3,000 to $7,000 on annual water testing.”
He said they will have a preschool program at Rawsonville Elementary.
“People don’t like change, but they’re resilient,” he said, noting he doesn’t like seeing bottled water, jug water.
Trustee Frazier said she is disappointed in the way School Supt. Pete Kudlak presented this to the board. She said she told him that and he agreed he could have done it better.
She said she didn’t see anything new in the report that the board already voted on. She wanted a committee to study the preschool program.
“We have to start kids on a regime when they get to Kindergarten.” In previous meetings she had said that the preschool is the gateway to bringing students into the district. She often used Bethany Daycare as an example of how students go on to Keystone Academy.
Frazier also said she did not see any plans in the packet about where the preschool classes would go.
Supt. Kudlak said they plan to put preschool in all four elementary schools. He said that once he got board approval on closing the school, they would make plans of where to put the classes.
Frazier pointed out the playgrounds for these preschool students have to be fenced in and the play equipment certified.
“It’s not the building that’s driving me, it’s the program. I need a committee,” Frazier said.
Supt. Kudlak said no matter what the decision there will be support for the preschool program.
Frazier then asked about the 40 Head Start students at Haggerty and where it would go next year. Kudlak said Head Start had been advised Haggerty might close and it has been looking for a place to go. Head Start pays $29,400 a year for the space at Haggerty.
“I think we need that Head Start program for our preschoolers,” Frazier said. “It’s a great program as far as I’m concerned.”
Kudlak said Head Start’s first choice is to stay at Haggerty.
Frazier said the Head Start used to be at St. Anthony’s, but they no longer could accommodate it.
Frazier said the board had already heard about the drinking water, but when it voted at the last meeting it was a 6-1 vote, not even close.
“In two weeks time, something has changed,” she said. “Mr. Kudlak is a strong preschool supporter.”
She said Kudlak said they could build a wing on a school for the preschool. She said she asked if they could use sinking funds for a new building. She said the board has been told before it could use sinking funds and then found they couldn’t.
“I would like a written opinion,” Frazier said.
“Mr. Kudlak assures me he has a vision,” Frazier said. Turning to James Williams, director of buildings and grounds, she said, “I don’t agree with your figures, Mr. Williams. I know we need a custodian.” She referred to Williams’ projected figures.
Johnston said he questions the need for a custodian during mothballing the school. He said there is no reason to run anything at the school and the water could be cut off at the road.
“If we’re not going to pay the money to bring it up to standards, we should close it,” Johnston said, referring to the $2.4 million estimated to bring the building up to standards over five years.
“So, you didn’t get your way and you brought it back,” Frazier said to Johnston.
“It’s not about me getting my way,” he said.
Kudlak said the teachers at Haggerty would like to stay together and the school is very nice for them. He said the teachers asked if they could go back to the ECDC building at Edgemont Elementary that is now scheduled for demolition.
Secretary Kevin English remembers how difficult it was to close Elwell Elementary and how incredibly important it is to have early childhood education.
English said to get $2.4 million over the next five years the district would have to attract 500 new students to pay for it. It would deplete the entire sinking fund to make repairs.
Trustee Simone Pinter asked if there is a plan for moving the 108 preschool students and 40 Head Start students.
Kudlak said the preschool would be broken up into programs, with Great Start to go to two other schools and one to Rawsonville.
Parent Angela Mears suggested moving all the programs into one school, such as Edgemont, and moving some of the Edgemont students around to other schools.
Kudlak said they need to move one preschool playground and buy another one. He said they have to remember that Plante Moran said they expect 200 more elementary students in the district over the next five years.
He said all the staff currently in the preschools there would still me employed.
“We should have sold Elwell to Sumpter Township and we didn’t,” Frazier said, referring to the demolition of Elwell and the former superintendent announcing that it needed to be demolished so it couldn’t be used as a charter school.
“We should put Haggerty up for sale immediately,” she said.
Kudlak said Williams currently is making a list of properties owned by the district that it could sell.
English said Van Buren Township has a voting precinct at Haggerty now and that would have to be moved.
“I don’t think we can run the district based on voting precincts,” Johnson said.
“It was my inclination to bring it back … It’s all on me,” Johnston said of bringing the issue of Haggerty back for another vote.
“That’s good to know because I can beat you up in the parking lot,” Frazier said.
One of the Great Start teachers in the audience explained they are a licensed program and have to be certified. She said they gave a list of concerns to Kudlak.
She said the classrooms have to be all set up for preschool before the inspectors come in. Currently they have use of a gym and play outside weather permitting. She said the play equipment was purchased jointly by Great Start and ECDC and they switch out the toys.
When asked how much of Haggerty School they use, she said they use 9-10 classrooms, which is half the building. That means each program uses a quarter of the building, she said.
“It’s a pretty massive program to fit in one classroom,” Frazier said.
“I don’t understand how you take one-fourth of the school and fit it into one room,” Pinter said.
“Some buildings will have two rooms,” Kudlak said.
“Did the staff have the opportunity to go to existing buildings to see how it would work?” Frazier asked. “Principals say they can handle it, but can they? … That’s what’s bother me, the planning. I think it needs a lot of thought and preparation.”
Featheringill pointed out it is hard to move and the board is crunching it into a short period of time.
Board member Kelly Owen, who arrived at 8:40 p.m. for the meeting that started at 7 p.m., asked when the deadline is for this decision and Kudlak said for Head Start it’s as soon as possible. He said he doesn’t know how long it would take for inspection and licensing.
“We have to know if there’s enough room and if it will get licensed,” Pinter said.
“I don’t foresee any big issues,” Williams said.
“There’s a lot of logistics that need to be looked at,” Frazier said. “What if we can’t get licensed?”
Kudlak said the district has normal elementary schools and there are preschool programs in elementary schools throughout the state.
“I would make the motion but I don’t think we’ve done enough,” Frazier said. “I feel conflicted about it and I don’t know.”
Johnston said the superintendent said the motion to approve the closing is recommended and, “I don’t want to micromanage.”
English made the motion to rescind last month’s decision and approve the closing of Haggerty School. Allison Bennett seconded the motion and it passed 5-2.
“I knew you had your plants in here,” Frazier said to Johnston.
At the end of the meeting, Frazier said, “I’d like Haggerty on the agenda of the next meeting.” And, when Johnston said she had to call him and he wouldn’t answer the phone, she said: “I’m not kidding.”
In other business at the April 10 meeting that was almost three-hours long, the board:
• Unanimously approved the Early Middle College Alliance with Wayne County Community College that would give high school students a chance to enroll in a five-year program that could earn them an associate’s degree without charge;
• Unanimously approved the second amendments for the 2016-17 budgets for general fund, food service fund, special education millage and sinking fund;
• Unanimously approved purchase of seven 2015 used 77-passenger buses from Hoekstra Transportation for a total cost of $463,953. The buses came from Jackson;
• Approved the first reading of more board policy updates and new policies;
• Approved the elementary school wireless points and wireless controller from Presidio. If the district gets the Erate USF grant it would pay just 20% of the project, $21,318. At the time of the grant award the district will decide whether to move forward with the $106,590 project;
• Heard a report on the autism program at Edgemont Elementary School from Principal Fred Abel;
• Approved hiring Harley Severin as the afternoon custodian floater for Buildings and Grounds starting March 27;
• Went into closed-door session to consider the potential reinstatement of Student A for the 2016-17 school year. The student was expelled for the 2015-16 school year. The board reinstated the student; and
• Went into closed-door session to get updates from the attorney on the pending litigation by Savage teachers, case #16-cv-11805.