GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — In February, Grand Haven Public Schools Superintendent Kristin Perkowski announced a proposal to repurpose Mary A. White Elementary School into an early learning nature center. Many parents are against the proposal, as a petition to preserve the school has already garnered hundreds of signatures. After considering feedback from parents, the public was invited to voice their concerns with the proposal to the district's Finance and Operations Board Committee meeting Tuesday, where they were given a detailed presentation on the district's "financial reality."
In a statement, Superintendent Perkowski cited declining enrollment numbers and a projected budget deficit as the reasons behind the proposal.
"This plan is being proposed in response to enrollment numbers that have declined by nearly one thousand students over the past ten years and are expected to continue declining over the next five. Facing a significant projected budget deficit next school year, this plan seeks to ensure we can continue to operate efficiently while maintaining high-quality educational opportunities for all students and meeting multiple community needs."
More than 1,000 students have left the district since the 2014/2015 school year, and enrollment is projected to decline even more in the next five years.
Many parents, however, said they felt blindsided by the announcement.
"Essentially, it sounded like there was no plan, that a lot of the details had not been looked in to, and there was a lot of unknowns that were still question marks," said parent Brian Wyns at the Grand Haven Education Service Center Tuesday.
With two kids attending Mary A. White Elementary, Wyns wishes there were more transparency between parents and decision-makers.
"There was not a survey that was sent out to all of the different Grand Haven-area parents, which is very easy to do, because they have all of the, you know, communication and contact information. Survey them ... 'What are the things you're looking for? Would you be interested in an early childhood learning center at a central location?' None of that was done; none of that was discussed. That's frustrating," Wyns said.
He's not alone, as the petition to preserve the school has garnered more than 800 signatures as of Tuesday night.
"I don't love that the district's lack of financial planning is my daughter's problem, but I also live here and grew up here, and so I want to see the districts become successful," said parent Heather Akers.
Akers attended Mary A. White Elementary herself when she was a kid, and her daughter is a student there now. She believes the situation could have been handled better.
"We want to make sure that if this early learning center is what's great for the district, awesome. We are on board, but let's make sure that's the right plan and not something that's announced to get ahead of a rumor," Akers said.
After receiving feedback from parents, Superintedent Perkowski announced Friday that the district will roll back plans on the proposal, instead adding it as an agenda item for a discussion and vote within next Monday's Board of Education meeting at 7:30 p.m. on March 10. The agenda for the meeting will be posted on the district's website on Friday, March 7.
Wyns said, however, that solutions can be found within the community.
"There's a lot of smart people in this community that can help figure things out, and so I want to offer my support to help figure out what the right path is forward, whatever the data tells us it might be," Wyns said. "The ideal thing is to come together and work together. We are not the enemy. She is not the enemy. The board is not the enemy. Nobody's the enemy here. We're all on the same side. We want the best for Grand Haven. We want the best. Our schools, we want the best for our kids, and we want to move that forward into the future. And so how we can come together and successfully solve these problems is the most important thing we can do right now."
For now, all parents can do is wait until Monday.
"We always have to put kids first, and I just want to see the school board and the superintendent put kids first, because a lot of the emails are about finances. And yes, those are important. We need those to run a school, but kids, we can't. We won't have a school if we don't have kids," said Akers.
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