| Detroit News Update 3/10/06 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 10 2006, 02:26 PM (1,836 Views) | |
| 2 kids | Mar 10 2006, 02:26 PM Post #1 |
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Principal
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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...PDATE/603100421 Judge refuses to halt Livonia school restructuring plan Catherine Jun / The Detroit News March 10, 2006 LIVONIA -- A Wayne County Circuit Court Judge today denied a request by parents for a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the Livonia Public Schools from implementing a controversial district reorganization plan that includes closing seven schools by this fall. The parents filed a lawsuit last month, seeking a court injunction to permanently stop the plan. The preliminary injunction would have stopped the district from moving ahead until a final court judgment is issued. Most of the more than 100 parents waited for the decision in the hall of the courtroom at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, because the small courtroom was at full capacity. Parents were visibly disappointed with the decision. "We're moving," said Joanne Wickman, a mother of two. "I'm not staying, not when someone thrusts that down my throat," she said. The plan, adopted by the school board Dec. 5, includes shuttering seven elementary schools and reorganizing students in the remaining buildings into K-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12 grade configurations. The district maintains the plan would save $1.5 to 2 million a year, which comprises about 1 percent of its annual $160-million budget. In making his decision, Judge John A. Murphy said that the parents, represented by attorney Mayer Morganroth, did not prove that the school board violated open meeting requirements in creating a 40-member committee that met in private over a year and proposed the plan. "The plaintiffs have presented no evidence that in enacting the Demographics Committee, the board intended to circumvent the (Open Meetings) Act," he said. Five school board members sat on the committee, but the district maintained no attendance records or minutes. The parents also did not show that board's decision to adopt the plan was "arbitrary" and unjustified, said Murphy. "Common sense says that the fewer schools, fewer costs," the judge said. In a prepared statement, Superintendent Randy Liepa said: "Our focus continues to be on providing a smooth and comprehensive transition to support our parents, students, and staff as we move into this new elementary school configuration…The court's ruling today will help us to maintain that focus." The parents could return to court and ask again for the injunction after the two parties complete the discovery process and gather more evidence, he added. "We're not through, believe me," Morganroth told disappointed parents outside the courtroom. Morganroth described the judge's decision not as a setback, but as a continued warning to school board to continue with caution. "At this point, the board knows that if the board proceeds…they proceed at their own risk," he said. Before the judge made his decision, he heard arguments from both attorneys. Morganroth argued that the plan would hurt the quality of the schools by increasing class size and forcing the busing of students. He cited additional costs, such as purchasing buses, that would offset savings to the district. Gary King, attorney representing the school district, countered, saying, "I have a client that is facing serious declining enrollment issues, and declining enrollment means declining state funding." He added, "Plain and simply, Livonia has to close schools." You can reach Catherine Jun at (734) 462-2204 or cjun@detnews.com. |
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| forlivoniakids | Mar 10 2006, 02:33 PM Post #2 |
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4th Grade
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it is time to move on............anything further at this point would be detrimental to the children who are already beginning transition. please help your children move forward.......... regarding the moving comment in the article........she's upset about changing her childrens schools, but isn't about changing their schools and their home. comments like that do not help the cause look good. |
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| Grant1 | Mar 10 2006, 02:43 PM Post #3 |
We have just begun to fight!
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Neither does shoving something through without stakeholder input and community involvement |
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| DTEDad | Mar 10 2006, 02:47 PM Post #4 |
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5th Grade
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it's time to move on is right!!! MOVE ON DOWN THE BLOCK GATHERING MORE SIGNATURES... MOVE ON WITH THE PROCESS OF DISCOVERY AND GET THE AFFIDAVITS TO SHOW THE VIOLATIONS... YOU CAN BE SURE... WE'LL BE MOVIN' ON SISTER!!! |
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| PO'D Resident | Mar 10 2006, 02:57 PM Post #5 |
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Principal
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Why didn't we argue more of the 5/6 plan?? Yes, some schools may probably be closed....but it is this stupid lower & upper elementary plan that is ludicrous!! How can that many transitions be good for a child? We had the evidence to back up that argument also. This is disappointing! And my skin curls every time I hear Liepa as being quoted that everything is in the "interests of the children". Who is he kidding?? |
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| Rose | Mar 10 2006, 02:58 PM Post #6 |
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Principal
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What is going to be detrimental to my child is changing schools 4 more times before graduation and we just moved this year. Don't plead with the parents...plead with the BOE that put us in this mess in the first place. |
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| forlivoniakids | Mar 10 2006, 03:26 PM Post #7 |
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4th Grade
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there are many other school districts that have similar set ups. Has anyone ever checked them out? Novi does great and has not seem to lost any housing value. I know people who live north of Lansing in DeWitt and they have a highly rated school system that has a different building for every two years, ex: first and second together, then third and fourth......etc. |
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| Elisa | Mar 10 2006, 03:29 PM Post #8 |
Principal
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I don't think that it is this mom's job to help the cause "look good" She is speaking for herself, expressing her own feelings. The truth is that some people are going to leave the city. Some people are not going to be able to get past the way this plan was developed and passed. Many will never be able to trust the admin or the current BOE again. It would be extremely difficult to stay within a district if you have those feelings. |
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| Grant1 | Mar 10 2006, 03:33 PM Post #9 |
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We have just begun to fight!
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Dewitt and Novi are hardly comparable to Livonia Dewitt has only 2800 students in a rural town setting, and Novi is a developing community with exploding taxes. |
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| forlivoniakids | Mar 10 2006, 05:01 PM Post #10 |
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4th Grade
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your missing the point.........school districts are set up for their own needs. livonias needs have changed unfortunatley. the school board made a tough call. i don't think in any way they did this too hurt us. i don't agree with all the choices in their plan, but I think they honestly are looking at the future of Livonia Schools these are ELECTED officials. how many of us can say we've voted in these elections? |
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| sickandtired48154 | Mar 10 2006, 05:05 PM Post #11 |
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Principal
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This is the part where I really get sick and tired. Anytime people not in support of the LI use another district as an example --- the question is why can't Livonia be like so and so.............. Anytime someone in support of the LI uses an example, people not in support of the LI say ----- it is hardly comparable. If you aren't going to allow someone to compare, then you shouldn't compare either. A perfect example for Livonia to follow does not exist and all of the districts that people not in support of the LI like to use, have a lot of down sides also. You cannot expect or ask any BOE to run their district "perfectly" It is humanly impossible to do. You cannot take the best attributes of any school system and not get a negative side. That is life. By the way, I checked the number of people that voted in the last school board election. I find it ironic that the majority of the city of Livonia does not vote in school board elections, expects the BOE to do everything perfectly and when they don't, all of sudden we have a big problem and everyone has an opinion. Let's remember that the BOE are Livonia citizens, they have property values at risk just as much as anyone else involved in this. They have no reason to try to do things that will hurt the children of this city. You should read the article the community editor wrote in the Livonia Observer. It is great. He basically says it all. Let me know if you need me to pull it and post it. We need to start the healing process. |
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| forlivoniakids | Mar 10 2006, 05:06 PM Post #12 |
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4th Grade
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What is going to be detrimental to my child is changing schools 4 more times before graduation and we just moved this year. Don't plead with the parents...plead with the BOE that put us in this mess in the first place. Have you checked into Northville or South Lyon? They are redistricting every couple years. Would you rather be in that school district instead? I don't want my child going to a different school every year. Do you think their BOE's are also bad too? They are trying to work with what they have. We need to come together as a community now. Its getting embarrassing to say your from LIvonia with all the bad press we are getting. |
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| sickandtired48154 | Mar 10 2006, 05:14 PM Post #13 |
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Principal
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Is this the school board you voted in or did you not vote? |
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| fyi | Mar 10 2006, 05:15 PM Post #14 |
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Principal
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Who do think is responsible for all the "bad press?" Parents have a right to advocate for their children. It's insulting that you are now asking everyone to "move on." Everybody is going to deal with this mess in their own way. Some people will remain quiet and just remove their children from the district. Others will let their voice be heard at the ballot box. These are our "rights." Unfortunately, this BOE drove parents to this point. They had opportunities to work with community and bring the community together. We are now past the point of no return. |
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| sickandtired48154 | Mar 10 2006, 05:16 PM Post #15 |
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Principal
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Is this the board you elected or did you not vote? |
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