Bloomfield Hills Schools Takes Consolidation Message to the People

The public push to with at least $65 million in taxpayer funds continues tonight with another of the dozen town hall meetings Superintendent Rob Glass will lead over the next month.

Tonight's meeting is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at , and Thursday's is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at .

Though he's been talking about for longer, Glass formally started the effort last week with a presentation before roughly 30 parents and residents at the Doyle Center. For roughly 45 minutes, Glass navigated attendees through the recent history of the debate to merge Andover and Lahser high schools, as well as the past failures to muster enough public support to do so.

He also laid out the progress made on bringing what he believes is a by the school board by the end of February. Before that can happen, however, Glass said he wanted to hear community feedback about whether to add optional improvements to athletic facilities and learning communities that if approved could swell the project's cost to roughly $82 million.

Participants then spent roughly the next hour asking questions, providing feedback and airing concerns they discussed in small work groups at their respective tables. Charlie Fleetham, founder and president of Project Innovations Inc., facilitated the discussion and a brief exit survey that each participant was asked to complete. The same format is expected to be repeated tonight.

No attendees spoke out against the proposal or publicly said they would reject it last week. But several raised concerns ranging from the student's transition and the cost of the project that the district will absorb, to how the district will communicate its message to a diverse voter base that includes seniors and parents of private school students. Others found the plan to improve the Andover site with 64 percent new construction while reusing roughly 36 percent of what's currently there impressive, but weren't totally sold on the value of new when it comes to education.

"I think it is good to upgrade, but the community constantly comments on the high national standing of the International Academy, which is housed in an old elementary school," said Gail Holmes, who is also a substitute teacher in the district. "I want two schools. As a sub, I want to see the busing between schools eliminated. It's a waste of time."

Through the myriad of questions three clear messages from Glass came across:

1. He believes this is the proper course for the district's future. He said he was convinced after months of studying budgets, enrollment projections and design schemes provided by experts, as well as insights from the lay leaders and parents he's met with and listened to.
2. The time is now. Whether a millage is approved by the public or not, the district is preparing to move forward with a unified high school for 2013. One way or the other, the community will make a decision that impacts how education will be delivered in Bloomfield Hills Schools for decades to come, and finally end more than eight years of consternation and uncertainty.
3. Attention needed. Given the potential importance of the vote, he said everyone in the community needs to be engaged and informed.

He encouraged those in attendance to work on their family, friends and neighbors to get educated, regardless of preconceived notions or positions, because the decision will have lasting affects.

"It would be a real shame to not work to get them out here because this is important information that our whole community needs," he said. "Get them here even if they don’t think they’ll learn anything because they need to hear this for themselves. The decision we make will impact us for a very long time."

Board of Education President Ingrid Day, Treasurer Cynthia von Oeyen, and Trustee Joan Berndt were among the crowd last week. Glass, key administrative staff, and some board members are expected to attend each of the events. Glass said that future presentations will be recorded and broadcast on , and that the PowerPoint presentation he's using will be available on the soon, however he wanted to draw as much interest as possible to the town hall meetings.