PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Pontiac School District is considering closing three elementary schools and relocating students as part of a consolidation plan driven by falling attendance rates and rising operational costs.
Educators, union leaders and parents pushed back at a Monday night board meeting, raising concerns about student stability and a lack of transparency — and the board ultimately tabled the discussion until next week.
Watch Jeffrey Lindblom's video report below:
Ebony Simms, a para-educator in the district who began her career nearly 30 years ago at Kennedy Center Elementary School, said the school is designed for children who need extra care.
"I am upset that they are thinking about moving those fragile children," Simms said.
Kennedy Center Elementary is among the schools being considered for closure, along with Owen Elementary and Alcott Elementary. Simms, whose grandson with special needs attends Alcott, said she worries the services currently offered there won't be available once he is moved.
"This is throwing off their routine totally by uprooting them out of what they know and love," Simms said.
Pontiac School District Superintendent Kimberly Leverette said K-12 attendance rates across the state continue to fall, directly impacting funding and driving up operational costs. She said many district schools are far below capacity.
"We are maintaining more space than we currently have students at a cost that is continuing to rise," Leverette said.
Leverette acknowledged the difficulty of the situation but said action is necessary.
"No one in this state wants to subscribe to the fact that we are failing children. Yes, we are," Leverette said. "There are difficult decisions to be made. We must move forward."
Candice Ridley, president of the Pontiac Education Association, said she understands the need for consolidation but takes issue with how the district is approaching it.
"I understand the need for consolidation. My issue is with the way they're going about it," Ridley said. "Students need stability. They need to know where they're going to be day-to-day and year-to-year."
She also raised concerns about the logistical burden on families with multiple children who could end up spread across several schools.
"I think it's very difficult when you start splitting kids up into different grades when you've got families with three, four, five kids and will have kids in three, four, five schools," Ridley said.
Ridley said the district already struggles with staff retention, and she believes closing schools could worsen that problem — particularly given ongoing contractual issues that have not been resolved since last year.
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A teacher at Owen Elementary, who said she would be affected by the closures not once but twice, criticized the district for what she described as a lack of transparency and unwillingness to listen to educators and parents.
Board Trustee Tanisha Miller expressed support for consolidation but raised concerns about the pace of the proposal, asking whether teachers had been properly notified. Other trustees shared similar concerns, with the board ultimately agreeing that the community and staff need to be more involved in the process.
Next week, the board hopes to clarify the timeline for any decisions and determine how to better engage the community.
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