Grosse Pointe Closing 2 Elementary Schools

GROSSE POINTE, MI — The Grosse Pointe Board of Education is making some changes to the school district. According to reports, these changes have some parents and community leaders upset.

The board voted 5-to-2 to close both Poupard and Trombly elementary schools and voted 6-to-1 to reconfigure grades. This will take 5th graders out of elementary schools and move them into the middle school.

The changes are expected to happen next school year. The board boasted the following points:

• 15 Town Halls attended by 1,196 community members were held
• 4 Listening Sessions conducted by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights were held
• A 6 yes: 1 no vote to implement K-4, 5-8 grade configuration in the fall of 2020-21 addressing middle school capacity and educational goals, while allowing more space for preschool programming expansion at the elementary schools
• A 5 yes: 2 no vote to merge Poupard School with Mason and Monteith elementary schools in the northern end of the district, and Trombly School with Defer Elementary School in the southern end of the district, in the fall of 2020-21

Agustin Arbulu, Executive Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, cautioned the board to take up a “racially conscious approach” WXYZ reported.

Poupard – is the only predominantly black school in the district, according to the report.

Click here for full details on the fall 2020-21 reconfiguration.

Read more at WXYZ.com.