And so it continues. Now the focus changes from closing elementary schools, to the future of our high schools, chiefly the possible closure of Lapeer West High School. The trends do not look promising. In the most recent enrollment projections, for the year 2014-2015, the most likely trends are that we will have approximately 1951 students in grades 9-12 for East, West, and Community High School combined. That would be down almost 300 students from the 2230 we were at in 2010-11. While we will need updated projections in the next few years to better understand what is coming, it is not simply just about the numbers.
Many people are not aware that when a school building is closed, very little savings is seen from the actual building costs. Virtually all of the cost savings comes from the reductions of principals, secretaries, librarians, parapros, and custodians. For elementary buildings, the savings is around $330,000. It would be roughly doubled, or $660,000 if a high school were to be closed. In our cash strapped times, the reality is that this could mean 6 teachers continuing to educate our kids, or keeping a building open, but there is much more to the story and it is not just dollars and sense.
Going from 2 high schools to just 1 would certainly impact the choices that our kids would have. Whether it is band, football, or clubs, their opportunities could be cut in half. While this should not be the main concern, it is no less a legitimate concern.
Then there is the concern about the resources we have put into West. In just the last few years, we have build additional Science Labs, and an auxiliary gym at West with a substantial cost to the taxpayers. These additions came from the Bond that the LCS community passed in 2007, While we can look at the decisions to build these additions and whether they were in fact necessary, the fact is that we must do our best to honor our commitment to our kids and to make the best use of the facilities that our community tax dollars have built.
Lastly, we must determine when, and at what point will the numbers say that keeping 2 high schools is not the responsible or feasible thing to do. This will be vital to making the right decision for our kids. Currently, there is a Facilities Task force made up of parents, staff, and members of the community that is working on finding out . I myself am on the task force and would encourage any who care to find the time to get involved. At this time and for the foreseeable future, we have way to many students to close a high school even if we wanted. But, if the trends continue, we will in fact reach a point where it may be better for our kids and offer more choices and opportunities to them to combine our 2 high schools.
In the last year, Lapeer Schools conducted a survey of our community asking about the possibility of combining high schools. It was a large sample of people both with kids in the district, and those with no direct involvement in our district. The overwhelming majority of people said that we should keep 2 high schools as long as it was economically feasible. I would and did totally agree with that conclusion. How ever, we must look into the future and be prepare for what might lie ahead. Our lack foresight has cost our kids and taxpayers millions and we cannot afford any more short sightedness when it comes to education in Lapeer Community Schools.
We all hope that things will turn around and we can return to the good old days. The reality is that we do not know just what the future will hold, but we must be as prepared as possible to give our kids the best education we can and make sure that the decisions we make are sustainable for the long term. For too long, we have made decisions that have not been sustainable for the long term. We cannot afford to get this one wrong. We need much more information to be able to make the right decision on the future of our high schools. Nothing will change for the foreseeable future, but as we travel down the road, we will have a better grasp of just where we are with our student numbers. We must keep all options open and do what is truly in the best interests of the kids. We all miss the good old days, but in ever changing times, we must sometimes learn to change with them. The fact truly is that only time will tell.
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