Officials call on state to block charter school

By Brian C. Louwers
C & G Staff Writer

WARREN — City officials stepped up their efforts to oppose the relocation of a charter school near 13 Mile and Ryan roads last week.

Through a letter and a resolution, respectively, sent to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Warren Mayor Mark Steenbergh and members of the Warren City Council  continued to express their concerns about the development planned by Conner Creek Academy East.

Earlier this year, officials with the school said they plan to build a 61,000-square-foot combined middle and high school facility on property purchased from developer Tony Gallo in January. The facility would be suitable to house their current enrollment of 462 students presently attending classes at two locations in Roseville. 

Officials in Warren later expressed a list of concerns ranging from the loss of tax revenue and traffic issues to the size of the property, which they claim is too small for the proposed facility under state guidelines.

Opponents of the plan, including Warren City Council member Melinda Moore, who brought the situation to the council’s attention earlier this year, and Council President Jim Fouts, have argued that the site, at less that 20 acres, is insufficient. According to state guidelines for such a facility, they said, the site would have to be at least 30 acres, with one additional acre for every 100 students.

Steenbergh took issue with the size of the property in correspondence sent to Granholm last week.

“We should not assault the neighbors’ quality of life by forcing too much school on too little land. If you are unable to enforce compliance with state guidelines, who can?” Steenbergh said. “I implore you to assist the taxpayers of Warren in seeking relief in this matter.”

Moore said the council’s latest resolution would be sent to the governor, the State Board of Education and to Ferris State University, the school’s authorizing body.

She said the resolution speaks to multiple concerns.

“We’ve found out that a chartered school can only be chartered in one location. They are chartered in Roseville. They’re not chartered in Warren,” Moore said. “My biggest concern is the traffic. There are over 400 students currently enrolled in that school, and they’ll be driven in. That’s unfair to the residents.”

Conner Creek Superintendent Chuck Meredith said he disagreed with the interpretation of the state guidelines for property size, which he said were intended for less densely developed areas.

Meredith also said the school could legally transfer its students from facilities in Roseville to Warren, providing that there would be no overlapping grade levels split between the two locations and that the authorizing body — in this case, Ferris State University — would approve the move.

“It’s kind of sad. Our goal is to be an addition to the neighborhood and the community, not a problem for them,” Meredith said. “My thinking is we’re following the law as it was written.”

Meredith said plans have already been submitted to the state and that if everything is approved and remains on track, Conner Creek East Academy’s high school would open at the new L-shaped site on the northeast corner of 13 Mile and Ryan roads next spring. Ideally, he said, the academy’s high school and the middle school students would be attending classes in Warren by fall 2008.

There are no plans to move Conner Creek East’s elementary-level students to Warren, Meredith said.