New elementary school boundaries were approved by the Lapeer Board of Education at its regular meeting Thursday night.
Board members, as they did when the plan was presented in December, praised the administration for designing a plan that affected only three percent of the District’s 2,900 elementary school students.
State funding cuts, the previous closings of Attica, Irwin and Hadley Elementary Schools, and the upcoming closing of Elba Elementary School in June, coupled with the opening of two new sixth, seventh and eighth grade middles schools made the realignment a necessity.
The plan includes the option for parents of the small number of students scheduled for new schools to remain in their current building through the In-District Schools of Choice program. There also will be room for Out-of-District Schools of Choice. Both In-District and Out-of-District Schools of Choice parents must provide their own transportation.
Re-balancing the student populations, closing a building and designing more efficient bus routes all save money for the District which can be used for academics.
With the board’s approval Thursday night, all elementary parents will receive a letter about the changes and will be invited to meetings where the changes will be discussed. The In-District Schools of Choice will open in February and close in March. Staffing for each school will be determined in March and tentative teaching assignments announced in April.
