LANSING (WKZO-AM/FM) — It’s official, Kalamazoo Public Schools has slapped Gov. Rick Snyder’s School Reform Office with a lawsuit after the agency threatened to close two elementary magnet schools in the district, directly challenging the state agency’s authority.
The Saginaw School District and parents from the impacted schools in both towns are also signed on as plaintiffs. They claim closing the schools would hurt their students.
Supt. Michael Rice said this is a proposal that must be fought, because there are no studies that show that closing schools will do anything to improve the educational performance of the students who lose their school, and some evidence that busing them to some distant school could be detrimental.
From what we have heard about the suit, a victory would effectively disarm the SRO of its main weapon, threatening closures, rendering the agency powerless. We hope to obtain a copy later today.
Further legal action could always be pursued if closure orders were actually issued, or dropped if they are not.
