Ealy Elementary to Close as Part of West Bloomfield Schools Plan

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The West Bloomfield Schools Board of Education voted Monday night to close Ealy Elementary School in fall 2013, among other decisions on school buildings.

Parents, administrators and staff packed the West Bloomfield High School media center for the Board of Education's vote on recommendations from an ad hoc committee formed earlier this year to study facilities and enrollment.

Some parents from Ealy and Doherty Elementary School, which was also considered for closure spoke out in support of a sense of community in times such as these. The recommendations were made on the basis of efficiency and cost-cutting, noted those speakers wearing "spirit wear" in endorsement of "their school."

The ACS building, located at the site of the old Scotch School house, had also been considered for closure in June 2013. Instead, the board voted to reconsider the issue in Jan. 2013.

It has been estimated by Shannon Bingham, a representative of Western Demographics, the district's consultant in the project, that closing the ACS building and Ealy together would save $725,000 from annual operating expenses; closing Ealy alone will save $685,200.

Unanimous votes were made to convert Doherty Elementary School for kindergarten through second grades and to convert Sheiko Elementary School for third through fifth grades in the fall of 2013, in essence creating one south end boundary.

Recommendations to consider the closure of Roosevelt Elementary School and to convert district middle schools to accommodate fifth through eighth grades will be reconsidered over the next 2-5 years.