FeedsSchools to ask for reduced bond
A potential 2007 Plymouth-Canton Community Schools bond proposal would focus primarily on middle school overcrowding in the district, if board members follow the recommendation of Superintendent of Schools Jim Ryan.
The failure of the two bond proposals in May 2006 has been blamed on the request for “too many extras.” With that in mind, Ryan presented a stripped-down version for one $60 million proposal, about half the amount requested in May.
Ryan estimates that such a proposal would result in a .51 increase in the debt levy, with a first year millage of .60 and an average millage of .51.
The proposal would seek at least five items:
- Reimbursement for land purchased for a new middle school in Canton ($2.3 million)
- Construction of the middle school, which would replace Central Middle School ($30.6 million)
- 15 new classrooms and additional remodeling at East, West and Pioneer middle schools ($12 million)
- Conversion of Central Middle School into alternative education, curriculum center and community education facility ($13.2 million)
- Thirteen newschool buses ($1.3 million)
Ryan also asked the board to consider including an option for an auxiliary gym at Salem High School, which would be required if the courts decide to force schools to have girls and boys’ sports played concurrently. Ryan also asked them to give thought to include remodeling of the Canton High School auto shop. It could offer national certification to students with some improvements, he said.
The district is experiencing substantial growth in Canton, where middle school students not going to Discovery Middle School must be driven or bused to one of the other schools grouped closely together in Plymouth.
About three in four middle school students in the district live in Canton, according to assistant superintendent Patricia Brand. As of Aug. 31, there were 4,375 middle school students enrolled in Plymouth-Canton schools, and 3,239 of them lived in Canton. Those figures aren’t expected to decline anytime soon.
In an effort to build where the growth is, the district bought land in April 2004 on Cherry Hill Road between Canton Center and Beck roads to build the new middle school. On April 1, 2007, the district will no longer be eligible to recoup the $2.3 million in a bond.
As in May, the plan is not to simply build an additional school, but to retool Central Middle School into an alternative education center and shift general education resources closer to the student population.
According to Barbara Rodenberg, the assistant superintendent of instruction, the time is now to replace Central Middle School. Many rooms can’t handle the 29.5 students that Plymouth-Canton calls an average class size.
Central has several rooms that are small and oddly-shaped.
“There’s one we called the ‘bowling alley’ because it was long and skinny. There are several like that.”
As of Aug. 31, the district had 4,366 students enrolled in five middle schools. That’s over the ideal capacity of 4,328. If the district were to stretch buildings to their limit, they could fit 5,089 students. In order to do that, they would have to occupy every seat in every room for six hours a day (eliminating empty rooms during a teacher’s planning and preparation hour). There would be more teachers “on a cart”—moving from room to room with their materials in order to juggle and fill classrooms.
The $18,000 survey done for the district showed that 43 percent of voters believed all grades K-12 were overcrowded and 14 percent said middle schools were crowded specifically.
Internal projections by the district show middle school enrollment at 4,717 by 2011. That’s under the extreme limit of 5,089, but it’s far past an ideal learning environment.
“We call that the maximum capacity, but we know we don’t want to go there,” said Rodenberg.
Middle school overcrowding is a problem that won’t go away by itself. West underwent a boundary change in 2005 to alleviate congestion there, but it’s a temporary measure.
Ryan said once Central is replaced with a more usable space, the district will be in a good position with the middle school situation.
Ryan said his ideal bond would also include an additional $754,000 to provide for additional Wayne County site requirements and computer equipment for the replacement school in Canton.
