West Bloomfield School District: Built on a House of Cards

 

I was disappointed to see the West Bloomfield School District (WBSD) has continued with plans to demolish the historic Roosevelt Elementary School building in downtown Keego Harbor. As a past resident of Keego Harbor, I understand the significance of this structure to the community’s social realm. The school board seems to be acting as though they hold all the cards in this dispute. I would argue the school board has placed the district in a very precarious position and is built on a house of cards.

West Bloomfield Township (WBT), like many Michigan communities, has experienced what I would call, “age in place”. As school age children graduated from high school, they left the community. WBT has very little social realm of its own that appeals to Millennials and GenXer’s. Their parents, however, remained in their homes resulting in a plummeting of resident school enrollment.

The WBSD school board avoided making tough decisions to right-size the district. Instead, they “kicked the can down the road” and aggressively pursued school of choice by poaching significant numbers of students from other districts, primarily the Pontiac School District (PSD). Other districts, like Bloomfield Hills, made the tough decisions to close buildings and adjust staff sizes. From 2010 – 2023, the WBSD Blended Enrollment count, even with school of choice, has decreased by 29% (source: MDE Annual State Aid Reports). It now finds itself with 1,764 students from 5 other school districts. The out-of-district enrollment now accounts for nearly 36% of the 2023 enrollment (source MDE’sNon-resident database).

The WBSD board, thinking it’s holding all the cards, has been taking insidious decisions to destroy the social realm of its only walkable town center; Keego Harbor/Sylvan Lake. It most recently drew a new school building boundary map that splits Keego Harbor, a small community of 3,100 residents, in half, sending resident students to two different elementary schools. Who would do that?

I pose the question, what would happen if a significant number of families of Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake and the northeast corner of WBT said, “OK, we are exercising our school of choice option and will send our students to the PSD in the fall”. And what if many of the poached Pontiac students said they were returning to the Pontiac School District in the fall? Or what if the families chose to go enroll in a Public School Academy or start a new one in the neighborhood?

I know one’s first thought. Who would do that? Well, things have changed. History has turned full circle. The PSD is now the largest out-of-formula school district in the state*. It receives significantly more revenues per student than the WBSD. In addition, when the COVID relief money was doled out, the WBSD was allocated $7.5 million. The PSD was allocated $62.6 million (source: MDE’s COVID-19 Spend Dashboard). Governor Whitmer recently announced the state of Michigan was allocating $114 million to, among other things, pay off school debt. The PSD was included in that debt relief.

Finally, when the state doles out the additional at-risk funding to school districts the formula is based on the Community’s Census Poverty Level, not the percent of economically disadvantaged students enrolled in the district. The WBSD has increased its level of at-risk students but is not eligible for the bulk of extra funding to service those students. The PSD, on the other hand, receives nearly twice the 31a categorical money to service its at-risk students for 1,200 fewer students than the WBSD (source: 2024 MDE StateAid Reports).

The PSD is in a far better position to temporarily open a new elementary school in a vacant building in the northeast corner of WBT while it investigates a more permanent structure. With the per student funding the PSD has over the WBSD, the PSD could make an attractive offer to keep the Pontiac students it is losing to the WBSD and poach the Keego Harbor and Sylvan Lake students. An uptick in student enrollment could potentially put the PSD back in-formula and receive even more funding. While the WBSD finds itself embroiled in destroying the fabric of a tight-knit community, the PSD is in a position to make significant strides in building up its community. Wouldn’t it be appealing to see a new Daniel Whitfield Elementary School on its former grounds in Sylvan Lake?

School districts must remember that families with school age children are their customers. Any private sector business would not last long treating its customers as the WBSD has treated its residents. Families today have options. It may be time for them to start exercising their options.

*Comparisons of Local, State and Federal Revenues per Pupil. Sorted in descending order by the 2023 Foundation Allowance they would have received if they were not out-of-formula.

Recently updated to reflect the 2023 statewide school financial data made available. Pontiac School District, as the largest out-of-formula district in the state, is in the same category as districts like Charlevoix, Northport, Harbor Springs and New Buffalo.