8-18
Media,
by 8-18 Media
Declining
enrollment claims another elementary school
Bordered by shaded streets and in the center of
a quiet neighborhood, it would seem that Vandenboom
Elementary School in Marquette Township is the
ideal neighborhood school. With light traffic
and many students living within
walking distance, it could be on any street corner
in small town America.
So, when the Marquette school board made the recent
decision to stop using the Vandenboom building
for Kindergarten through Grade3 education after
the coming school year, many community members
were disappointed. Residents of the Marquette
Area Public Schools, in a number of neighborhoods,
have been getting this type of news for years.
Vandenboom is the latest addition to the list
of closed elementary schools in the MAPS district.
Parkview, Whitman and Silver Creek schools all
were closed within the last ten years and all
for the same reasonsdeclining enrollment
and budget problems.
Brooke Swajanen, eleven, of Marquette is a former
Vandenboom student. She is upset that after this
year, her old elementary school will no longer
be used.
I went there for four years and its
a good school, she said. They had
a lot of activities and they would take care of
you if you were sick or something.
Faith Martin, eleven, of Marquette, another former
Vandenboom student, also feels that Vandenboom
should remain an elementary school.
I had a wonderful time there and my teacher
was awesome and I think they should keep it as
an elementary school, she said.
The school was built as a Marquette Township school
in 1950 and underwent major renovations in 1956,
1967 and 1993. In 1983, the school was annexed
by the Marquette Area Public Schools.
Before making a final decision in June, board
members listened to comments from community members
and reviewed feedback from a survey sent out by
Marquette Township. Township supervisor Ray Adamini,
who is strongly opposed to ending elementary education
at Vandenboom, said more than 1,700 mailings were
sent to residents in the community about the schools
future. Of the 1,700 sent out, they received eighty-seven
responses and passed them along to the school
board members to review.
I spent an hour or two and read them allall
eighty-seven of them, trustee Scott Brogan
said. Of the eighty-seven, I think eight
of those were in favor of what the administration
is recommending. When we look at the concerns
that are raised in those comments, I think there
are some real and valid concerns. Over and over
were taking about loss of neighborhood,
loss of community.
Before the six-to-one vote was cast (with Brogan
casting the lone dissenting vote), board members
were presented with several alternatives. One
option that received the most discussion was keeping
Vandenboom open and expanding it to a K-5 building.
Another related option was expanding not only
Vandenboom to a K-5 school but all the K-3 elementary
schools in the district and designating the Graveraet
Intermediate School, which currently houses fourth
and fifth graders, for other uses.
Brogan suggested Graveraet could be used to house
central administrative staff, for community education
programs, alternative education and special education
programs . . .
8-18 Media
Editors Note: This
story was written by Megan Maas, 15, with contributions
by Danielle Jahnke, 11 and GlenEllen Lehmberg,
10.