Northwest Wayne News

The Dearborn School District is in the early design stage of crafting a master plan for the development of school campuses over the next 30 years.

The topic was broached at the May 15 school board meeting, with the architectural firm Fielding International on hand to answer questions from stakeholders.

The plan will be guided by projected enrollment and population trends, facility needs, future changes in education and ensuring equitable access for all, the Fielding International presenters said.

The design firm presented three scenarios to accommodate the district's needs over the next 30 years.

“This is a 30-year master plan, so we are looking at it very holistically,” said James Seaman, a Fielding International partner. “And you'll see in these scenarios, it really would take 30 years to work through the entire build-out here. So, it is a very holistic long-term plan.”

The first proposal was a school-by-school scenario that would involve maintaining all school sites, along with converting Smith Middle School into a K-8 building. Under this initiative, any future development would be tailored to the needs of that specific school, along with integrating PreK classes into all elementary and K-8 buildings.

In this scenario, some campuses would be replaced and the rest would be renovated, Jessica Sticklor-Lipson of Fielding said. Under this approach, the district would need swing schools -- temporary educational facilities made up of modular buildings -- over 27 years to enact the plan. Board members expressed concern that this approach could disrupt a generation of students.

The hybrid model would follow the school-by-school approach for elementary, middle and K-8 buildings. The three high schools would be combined into one building.  Student bodies would maintain their own identities but would share one main campus site. The preschools would be incorporated into the preschools into the elementary and K-8 buildings, with a specialized education site at one of the old high schools.

This would keep the smaller neighborhoods in lower-level schools intact while fostering greater overall community for the high school students, the Fielding presenters said. The timeline for this approach would be 26 years and would also include swing sites.

The consolidated approach would decrease the number of campuses and unify some grade levels.

Under this proposal, the district would have one high school campus, 14 K-8 campuses with no sole middle or elementary buildings, five preschool locations and three special facilities. The district would go from 30 campuses to 23 under a plan that would take 22 years to finish.