The Anchor Bay School District is moving forward with a plan to realign middle school grade levels, despite some criticism from the public.
The Board of Education voted 5-2 on May 22 to approve the first step in a series of changes slated for the coming decade. Starting in the fall of 2025, Middle School North will house grades five and six, and Middle School South will house grades seven and eight.
The regrouping aims to address additional space demands for preschool programming. Without the realignment, implementing universal preschool in the district would require each of its elementary buildings to house more than 200% of their current capacity, according to officials.
Superintendent Phil Jankowski said the middle school realignment will also help close some of the division between the two schools.
“We will now be able to offer equal programs to all of our students,” he said, after the meeting. “For example, all students can now take swimming as a class. Likewise, we will be able to add a fifth grade band class for all students at North.
“At South, we will be adding about a dozen new electives over the next few years in order to align with our high school career pathways. This will give students some hands-on opportunities to delve into different careers so they can broaden their horizons and find their best fit before they move on to post-high school education or work experiences.”
Future plans include potentially reopening MacDonald Elementary School in the fall of 2028 depending on enrollment needs, Jankowski said. In addition, Lottie M. Schmidt Elementary School may remain open if space is needed for preschool. The building was originally going to close in 2030 or 2031.
“Additional school kitchen upgrades will be included because the state has implemented universal free lunch and we need more capacity to serve students,” the superintendent said.
But many parents have pushed back against the plan. More than a half-dozen people spoke in opposition to the realignment at the school board meeting, citing concerns including longer drives and bus rides, the stress of “uprooting” students and safety.
“My concern is that the children in elementary school rely on structure, and how do you justify uprooting these kids, especially kids like my son who has ADHD,” Angela Fresh said. “He will not do well in an environment where he cannot focus in a single classroom with one teacher. Not at this young age.”
Some also said they felt officials had not been transparent about the realignment and its deviation from the original bond plan approved by voters in 2022.
“The main reason we chose the house that we did was because of the location,” said Melissa Larson, who said her daughter experiences extreme motion sickness. “We are close to Ashley and North, where both our kids would have a short and safe walk to school. … Why are we putting this on our kids? Why do the kids have to endure the change?”
School board Vice President Jill Knox said the realignment will help foster a bigger sense of community and help students find their place.
“I think that by having them all together starting in fifth grade they’re going to have a bigger pool of potential friends and a more likely chance to find where they belong,” Knox said.
“I think that’s going to strengthen their character, strengthen their opportunities, strengthen their mental health. … I think it can only do good,” she added.
Trustee Lisa Birkmeier, who has children attending school in the district, also spoke in support of the plan.
“What this change does is make equitable change that affects every student in this district, which we have a history of not doing,” she said. “And the harsh reality is no, you are not guaranteed a particular school building when you’ve purchased a home.”
“I think that this will provide a more cohesive Anchor Bay community, where all of our students will get more opportunity and value from our district,” she added.
The motion to approve the plan was made by Treasurer Dominic Vendittelli and supported by Trustee Mike Moses. Trustee Jon DeRoo and President Patrick Green voted no.
“I just think there’s a lot of community displeasure with this and something that we should be listening to,” DeRoo said.
Work on both middle schools will be done to have them ready for the switch at the start of the 2025-2026 school year, the superintendent said.
