School board agrees to proposed district boundary transfer

May 14, 2015  PLYMOUTH EAGLE.

Plymouth Michigan News

A second vote of the Northville Board of Education to allow Woodside Village to become part of the Northville Community Schools was approved by a 4-3 vote.

The vote does not assure the transfer of students into the Northville district but demonstrates the willingness of the board to allow the students who live on the west side of North Haggerty Road between Five and Six mile roads to attend Northville schools rather than schools in the Plymouth-Canton district. Plymouth Canton Community Schools Board of Education members have voted against the transfer.

The final decision on the matter rests with the Michigan State Superintendent of Schools who would make the decision following the decision of a state administrative law judge.

The properties in question are in Northville Township and close to Winchester Elementary School and Meads Mill Middle School in the Northville district. If approved, there would 16 students who could transfer into a Northville elementary school and eight more who could move into the middle and high school. A petition from the Woodside homeowners claimed that 80 percent of the subdivision home-owners favored the move.

The motion was approved by a 4-3 vote of board members. Northville school board treasurer Matt Wilk was in favor of the request along with board members Scott Craig, Adam Phelps and Roland Hwang while board president Cynthia Jankowski and trustees Ann Kalass and Secretary James Mazurek were against it. Wilk noted that the new students would bring added revenue into the district from state per-student funding which is estimated to be about $200,000 if the projections of the home-owners’ petitions are correct.

Opposing board members said they were concerned with the precedent that such an approval could establish and the effects of any increase in the student population in the Woodside subdivision. School boundaries in the district were redrawn due to the increased student population in Northville, despite the loss of 75 students last year.

Wilk said that the fundamental issue was that a group of parents feel their children would get a better education in Northville which should be a tribute to the effectiveness of the Northville district.

A final decision on the issue from the state could be issued in June.

Plymouth Voice