Orion Township To Close One School

Word on the street in Orion Township and Lake Orion is that Carpenter Elementary school is scheduled to close next year. But here's the kicker. Orion Oaks, a larger school with over 500 students, is being targeted as Carpenter's replacement... name and agenda. So, in effect, Orion Oaks is being closed although the physical facility remains in operation.

This is already causing consternation among parents whose children attend Orion Oaks. With 300 some children from the old Carpenter Elementary heading to the new Carpenter Elementary (present Orion Oaks), many of the children now attending Orion Oaks with either be forced to other schools or, if they stay, lose the Orion Oaks curriculum they've grown to love. Some parents are already making the hard choice of putting their children who attend Orion Oaks on a waitlist for attending the new Carpenter Elementary (present Orion Oaks) simply because they like the facility and hope that most of the teachers now there will still be there after the conversion to the new Carpenter Elementary.

Confusing? You bet! Frustrating? You bet even more.

The Lake Orion Community Schools school superintendents and school board have taken a relatively straightforward closure and turned it into a nightmare of double the proportions. Talk about a lose-lose approach.