KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM/FM) — Kalamazoo Public Schools are calling it a win after taking on the School Reform Office in court.
Kalamazoo schools and a number of parents took the state to court when the School Reform Office threatened to close two local elementary schools because of low test scores and now Supt. Michael Rice is calling the settlement of that suit a “victory for the community.”
Rice said they have gotten just about everything they wanted by filing the suit. Instead of being forced to making improvements on their own, they are now working with the state on improvements.
He said they have been successful in keeping Woodward and Washington elementary schools open and convincing state officials that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to close a neighborhood school when their are low test scores. It’s not the fault of the building.
He said the School Reform Office has also been moved back to the Department of Education, where it belongs.
Rice said the community’s support for the suit helped bring the state over to their position.
