SAGINAW, MI — A 5-year strategic plan that aims to transform Saginaw Public Schools was presented to the Board of Education Saturday, Feb. 8.
Saginaw Superintendent Ramont M. Roberts presented the plan at a scheduled school board retreat held at the Saginaw Public Schools’ Professional Development Center, located at 1925 S. Outer Drive.
The plan focuses on three topics: declining enrollment, aging infrastructure and both academic and extracurricular programming.
“We have a number of facilities that are really aging to a point that it’s becoming really expensive to maintain them and more importantly modernize them,” Roberts said.
One of the first steps of the plan is to begin a bond campaign, he added. Roberts explained the necessary steps to get the bond proposal on a ballot for an election. He said if the plan is approved, the timeline to get the bond on the ballot is February through April.
Money from the bond would be used to address declining enrollment, aging infrastructure and programming, the superintendent said.
A huge school shake-up
Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy - or SASA -- is one of the aging facilities that needs to be addressed, Roberts said.
The plan proposes to demolish the school and build one comprehensive high school on the site. The students would come from Saginaw High School and Arthur Hill High School.
The auditorium and gym from SASA would remain.
“We would like the site of that high school to be central city,” Roberts said.
He further explained that the site is the perfect location based on where the majority of the students reside.
The two high schools have been experiencing declining enrollment over the years. Arthur Hill has about 740 students and Saginaw High has 440, According to Roberts.
Over the past 10 - 12 years, the district has lost an average of 300 kids per year, which Roberts says, equates to about $2 million that comes out of the budget each year.
If the bond passes, construction is planned to begin in January 2021 and finish in 2023.
The next step would be to move SASA and Handley elementary students to the current Arthur Hill location. He said the two schools would be separate facilities to create a “gifted and talented” campus.
The campus will have the same timeline to begin and complete the project as the comprehensive high school.
Ruben Daniels Middle School, formerly Central, is planned to reopen in 2021. An environmental study conducted by AKT Peerless has been completed to figure out how to make it a healthy environment, school district officials said.
Saginaw High School would be repurposed for an after-school high school program for the district. A portion of the building would be demolished, leaving the gym, media center, office space and one wing of classrooms. All of the outside athletic facilities would remain except for the tennis courts.
Arthur Hill would be demolished. The only part that would remain is gym for potential after-school programs, Roberts said.
Key objectives
Some key objectives in the strategic plan include a goal to increase proficiency in math and English/language arts by three to five percent, move sixth grade students back to middle school and strengthen parent involvement.
Roberts said the academic and extracurricular programming is not comprehensive and competitive enough to give students the ability to compete in the global economy.
During public comment, Saginaw Public Schools district employee Cheryl Payton said she would like to see more field trips and activities such as school assemblies worked into the plan.
NAACP Saginaw Branch President Terry Pruitt said people will have to work together for the plan to succeed.
“It will take significant commitment and unity to make this happen.” Pruitt said.
The Michigan Association of School Boards facilitators will present a more condensed version of the strategic plan to the board for approval at 5:30 p.m. at the Foster B. Gibbs Administration Building, 550 Millard St.
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