HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2020.12.07 - 33995MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION #20666
BY: Commissioner Kristen Nelson, District #5
IN RE: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS — URGING WEST BLOOMFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT TO
ALLOW MORE PUBLIC INPUT REGARDING THEIR POSSIBLE DECISION TO CLOSE ROOSEVELT
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN KEEGO HARBOR
To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners
Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
WHEREAS at the end of November, parents, staff and residents learned that the West Bloomfield School
District wants to consolidate from five elementary schools to four elementary schools, with Roosevelt
Elementary School potentially being the one to close; and
WHEREAS Roosevelt Elementary School was built in 1920, and it is the oldest continuously operating
school building in Oakland County; and
WHEREAS a School Efficiency Study was conducted this summer when a team of architects and school
facilities personnel assessed each school to evaluate how efficiently they operate; and
WHEREAS a task force was formulated to review the study; and
WHEREAS the Parent Focus Group was scheduled for Tuesday, December 1, 2020, and Thursday,
December 3, 2020 with less a week for parents and the public to provide any feedback; and
WHEREAS the Parent Focus Group meeting itself did not provide a sufficient platform for the public to raise
concerns and ask vital questions; and
WHEREAS after the Parent Focus Group meetings, the School Efficiency Survey was available to the public
for only couple days; and
WHEREAS a decision to close a public elementary school should not be taken without thorough public
participation and feedback; and
WHEREAS as many research studies show, public schools are the hearts of communities they serve; and
WHEREAS public schools like Roosevelt Elementary School, have histories that go back generations, and
WHEREAS closing Roosevelt Elementary School would not only mean closing a historical building but
closing a community school of which students would have to be transferred to surrounding elementary
schools in the District, and the nearest elementary school is over five miles away.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners hereby urges
the West Bloomfield School District to allow more public input regarding the possible decision to close the
Roosevelt Elementary School in Keego Harbor.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland County Clerk is requested to forward copies of this
resolution to the West Bloomfield School District Superintendent and the West Bloomfield Board of
Education.
Chairperson, I move the adoption of the foregoing resolution.
I Neuo v
Commissioner Kristen Nelson
District #5
Resolution #20666 December 7, 2020
Moved by Nelson seconded by Taub to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous Resolution #20666 —
Board of Commissioners — Urging West Bloomfield School District to Allow More Public Input Regarding
Their Possible Decision to Close the Roosevelt Elementary School in Keego Harbor.
AYES: Jackson, Luebs, Markham, McGillivray, Miller, Nelson, Powell, Quarles, Taub, Weipert,
Woodward, Zack, Gershenson. (13)
NAYS: Gingell, Hoffman, Kochenderfer, Kowall, Kuhn, Long, Middleton, Spisz. (8)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the motion to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous
Resolution #20666 — Board of Commissioners — Urging West Bloomfield School District to Allow More
Public Input Regarding Their Possible Decision to Close the Roosevelt Elementary School in Keego Harbor
carried.
Moved by Nelson seconded by Taub the resolution be adopted.
Discussion followed.
Vote on resolution:
AYES: Jackson, Kuhn, Luebs, Markham, McGillivray, Miller, Nelson, Powell, Quarles, Taub,
Weipert, Woodward, Zack, Gershenson. (14)
NAYS: Hoffman, Kochenderfer, Kowall, Kuhn, Long, Middleton, Spisz, Gingell. (7)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the resolution was adopted.
1 HEREBY APPROVE THIS F; SQLUT ON
CHIEF DEPUTY COUNT;' EXECUTIVE
F,CTING PURSUANT TO MCL 45.559A (7)
STATE OF MICHIGAN)
COUNTY OF OAKLAND)
I, Lisa Brown, Clerk of the County of Oakland, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is a true and
accurate copy of a resolution adopted by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on December 7,
2020, with the original record thereof now remaining in my office.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Circuit Court at Pontiac,
Michigan this Th day of December, 2020.
Lisa Brown, Oakland County