FeedsSchools look to future, community
The Wayne-Westland Community School District is looking to the future, and officials want to ensure they get plenty of feedback from the community.
Charlotte Sherman, Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services for the district, said they will kick off a Wayne-Westland 21st Century Schools Citizens Committee with an informational meeting on Monday.
The purpose of the committee it to look at the facility use in the district, the demographics, attendance boundaries and to explore additional educational options for students, she said.
“We have to do some ‘right-sizing’ and some evaluating,” she said. “We thought it’d be good to have it be citizen-driven.”
She said the idea originated in the difficult economy, which has school districts across the state scrambling to provide high quality education in the wake of declining or stagnant revenue streams.
“We need to look at things like declining enrollment,” said Sherman. “It’s not just a Wayne-Westland problem. It’s happening everywhere. People are leaving the state.”
Changing school boundaries may be one way to make better use of school facilities, said Sherman. The district currently has two elementary schools that each have less than 200 students in them. Typically, a good size is about 400-450 students, she added.
“When you’re paying for custodians, administrators…you’re paying some salaries that you need to look at,” she said.
Like other districts, Wayne-Westland has seen their revenue shrink as foundation grants from the State of Michigan have either been reduced or kept level while costs have increased.
They’ve weathered the storm better than some, however. Wayne-Westland only laid off seven teachers this year, while neighboring Livonia was forced to lay off more than a hundred.
Sherman said the first meeting would be an informational one, where committee members would get data such as enrollment figures when student population in district schools were at its highest.
Members of the committee include parents from each school building, members of organizations like the chamber of commerce and Rotary, state legislators—State Sen. Glenn Anderson, along with state representatives Richard LeBlanc and Marc Corriveau have indicated they would attend—as well as building principals, teachers and the heads of district unions.
“We tried to get a good cross section,” she said.
That would also ensure a well-rounded recommendation, should difficult decisions have to be made.
“These things can be painful to a community,” she said. “We want to get some ideas from the citizens before we make any kind of recommendation.”
