School Board To Weigh High School Boundary Changes

DEARBORN, MI — The Dearborn Board of Education will consider a plan Monday evening to change school boundaries to relieve overcrowding in two of the district's high schools, according to a media report. The proposal calls for moving students to Edsel Ford High School from Dearborn and Fordson high schools, the Press & Guide reported.

The board also will consider adding classrooms to Dearborn High. The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, May 8, in the boardroom of the ASC Building, 18700 Audette.

The boundary changes would go into effect with students entering high school in 2018, the Press & Guide reported. Those currently in high school would be allowed to finish at their school.

In a special meeting on Monday, May 1, the district's director of student services told the school trustees that Fordson High, which had nearly 2,700 students in the last school year, lacks space to expand. Fordson had nearly twice as many students as Edsel Ford High, which had 1,441, according to the Michigan Department of Education. Dearborn High had 2,056 students.

The new high school boundaries would follow the Dearborn district's current middle school lines, the Press & Guide reported. All students at Bryant and Unis middle schools would attend Dearborn High, while Edsel Ford would take all students assigned to Stout, Smith and Salina.

Fordson High would take all students from Lowrey and Woodworth middle schools, losing the Unis students and some from Stout.

At the special meeting, the trustees turned down an alternative proposal to create a separate ninth-grade school for Fordson students and build a much larger addition at Dearborn High, the Press & Guide reported. They also rejected a proposal to move the district's STEM Middle School to Smith Middle School to create space for more high school programs at the Dearborn Heights Campus.

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