KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo Public Schools appears headed toward moving El Sol Elementary from the Vine neighborhood to a site off Baker Drive in Kalamazoo Township, but nearby residents are not happy about losing the school.
Trustees received 18 communications asking to slow the process to give opponents more time to have input.
The school board received a long presentation on their options last night. They can either stay at their cramped two-acre site behind old Kalamazoo Central High School, or build a new school on a 12-acre site where Brucker Elementary once stood.
Homeowners in the Vine neighborhood say they will be losing their neighborhood elementary and a move to the larger site will increase travel times.
Matt Milcarek lives in the Vine neighborhood near the school.
Stephanie Simpson and Lindsay Jeffers, the parents of El Sol students, told trustees the advantages of a more spacious school with amenities outweigh the longer ride.
Staff says most of El Sol’s students are bussed now from all over the district.
KPS facilities manager Karen Jackson said they need to expand from the current 40,000 square feet to 75,000 square feet to meet state standards.
Squeezing all that onto the current site would leave little room for anything else.
El Sol principal Dr. Natalie Wilson says after a couple of staff meetings she asked her teaching staff about making the move.
Trustees also sounded supportive of building a new school on the 12-acre Baker Drive location. No vote has been taken yet.
Superintendent Darrin Slade says this isn’t the first time in his career he has had to close a school or move it.
Dr. Slade says whatever he recommends next month, the welfare of the children will be his priority.
It would take a couple of years to build a new school. Karen Jackson says if they build in the Vine neighborhood, El Sol would have to move classes to a temporary location along Westnedge Avenue. If they build a new school on the east side, they would remain at their current location for the next couple of years, which would be less disruptive.
$45 million dollars from the 2022 bond issue has been set aside for the new building.
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