Brandon Twp.- The opening of Oakwood Elementary next fall means a reconfiguration of school boundaries in the district. But in an effort to honor parents? wishes, school officials plan to allow students to attend the school of their choice for the next four years so they can remain with their friends.
The plan applies to currently enrolled students and mostly affects students at H.T. Burt and Harvey Swanson elementaries. Belle Ann Elementary boundaries remain mostly unchanged. A letter will be sent home in mid-April to parents asking them to state their preference? to stay in their current attended school or move to their new school area. Parents are also invited to attend a morning session at 9:15 a.m. or an evening session at 6:30 p.m. on March 11 at Harvey Swanson, 209 Varsity Drive, to discuss the issues with Superintendent Lorrie McMahon, as well as Principals Kristy Spann, Helen Clemetsen, and Mark Rodak.
‘Our first goal is to place students where they want to be? if not, we’ll have to make adjustments,? said McMahon.
Under the new proposed boundaries, students attending Harvey Swanson Elementary will be those who reside in the village; west of M-15; and in the Sashabaw Meadows Mobile Home Park. Students who live east of M-15 and north of Granger Road, as well as those living in the Clarkston Lakes Mobile Home Park, and in the Flint Boulevard subdivision, will attend the new Oakwood Elementary School. Belle Ann students will be those who live east of M-15 and south of Granger Road.
But children can complete their elementary years in the school they currently attend, in accordance with the overwhelming response to a survey of parents conducted last fall.
The benefits of this plan, said Clemetsen, who presented, ‘Puzzling Out Student Placement,? at a school board study session on Monday, is that families get to choose their school, latchkey is unaffected and there is no change to elementary transportation for the 2009-2010 school year. Drawbacks are a possible space issue if one school is chosen more over another and the potential for unequal class sizes across the district within a grade.
Priority will be given first to students who live within walking distance of Oakwood, for example, and those within the new boundaries. H.T. Burt students are switching under the new boundaries to the Harvey Swanson school, but could still go to the new school, said McMahon.
‘There could be issues, but it will eventually work itself out,? she said.
Transportation Director Betty Martin believes it will be good for the residents.
‘Down the road, the goal is to eventually have each elementary have their own set of buses so the buses don’t have to go to every building,? she said. ‘It should end up in some cost savings and shorter bus routes. It won’t affect us through the transition period, because we will continue to go to all buildings.?