Southfield School Board May Close 2 District Buildings

By Detroit Free Press

Jan. 22–At its meeting on Feb. 13, the Southfield Board of Education will vote on closing two district buildings, Magnolia Center and Kennedy Elementary, because of declining enrollment. The move stems from recommendations of the Citizens Committee on Declining Enrollment.

The closures would affect some 238 students, who would be placed at the Schoenhals School and Brace-Lederle K-8 School in the next school year. K-3 students who’ve been at Magnolia this year while the MacArthur School is renovated will return to MacArthur.

If the board approves the closure of Kennedy, 107 students who live in an area bounded by Greenfield, 10 Mile, Southfield Road and Mt. Vernon and in the Pheasant Run neighborhood would be transferred to the Schoenhals on Lincoln Road just west of Greenfield. Another 93 students who live in the 9 Mile-Providence Drive area would attend Brace-Lederle. Another 38 Kennedy students would be assigned to other district schools.

Kennedy, on Mt. Vernon Road, is expected to lose 41 students in the 2007 school year, down from 303 this year. District offices that are housed there would be relocated to Southfield High School. Also, attendance boundaries for Schoenhals would change, sending some students to Eisenhower School and Vandenberg School.

In 2002, Southfield Public Schools enrollment peaked at 10,484 students. The number has steadily declined, as has state school aid. This year, the district lost $2.5 million in state aid, according to Kenson Siver, deputy superintendent of Southfield Public Schools.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Detroit Free Press

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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