Approximately two-thirds of space being utilized at TMS, THS buildings

A group of community members, teachers and administrators met for the first time Thursday, March 12, to discuss how best to utilize the facilities in the Tecumseh Public Schools (TPS) district. The group grew out of TPS’ Strategic Planning committee and a facilities assessment completed by TMP Architecture, of Bloomfield Hills, earlier this year. The facilities assessment discovered that, as a district, about 71 percent of the buildings are being utilized, according to Tecumseh Supt. Kelly Coffin. “The good news about that is it’s probably the least utilized it could be no matter how we configure it,” she said. The Tecumseh Middle School (TMS) and Tecumseh High School (THS) are the least utilized schools in the district, with only 58.6 and 61.5 percent of the schools being used, respectively, according to the facilities assessment. “We have the space to do things differently here,” Coffin said. “How are our buildings utilized in a way that best meets the programming needs of our students, not only now, but five to ten years from now?”The report added that Tecumseh Acres Elementary is at 103-percent utilization. Sutton Elementary is being utilized at 101.7 percent. Patterson Elementary and Herrick Park are utilized at 96 percent and 90.4 percent, respectively. “I’ve taught at the middle school for the past 20 years and when I looked at that number I was shocked,” said TMS social studies teacher David Gibson, adding that for next year there are six vacant rooms at the school. Coffin said that the district is watching the growth in the community, especially at Sutton Elementary School, as many students in the Adrian Public Schools district choose to go to TPS. Coffin also noted that at Herrick Park, there are 49 kindergartners now going to that school from that neighborhood where before they were bussing kids to the school. “That neighborhood has finally turned over and families with young children are living there,” the superintendent said. She added that with school of choice, three school districts send buses into the TPS district to pick up kids and that is a practice TPS doesn’t do. “We want our kids to be in our schools because we know we provide a high-quality program for all students,” Coffin said. There is a 100-home development on Green Highway and developers on Gady Road are subdividing land to build homes for hospital personnel for the forthcoming M-52 ProMedica Hospital located on the site of Mission Pointe Golf Course, 5640 N. Adrian Hwy. in Adrian Township. The hospital is scheduled to completed in mid-third to fourth quarter of 2017.“All of those things are wonderful, but looking at how we are currently structured, we can’t just keep piling kids into Sutton [Elementary] and our buildings and just moving kids around year after year.” Coffin said. “I think there is a better way. We need community input.” The goal for those at the meeting was to break off into groups and come up with ideas for their ideal schools, ranging from elementary to the high school level. “We rarely get this opportunity as educators to be able to say, ‘what are the programming needs and how can we structure to meet those needs.’” Coffin said. “It’s usually a budget cut, you have to close a building, and it’s kind of sometimes seen as a negative thing. But in this case, it’s really not that. It’s really about what are the needs and how can we meet them. We have the space. It’s a perfect opportunity to have these conversations.” One theme discovered through the brainstorming session included connectedness, between not only teachers, but students as well. Moving forward, the group will work on how best to gather community input on how to best utilize the space at TPS. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 20, at 6 p.m. in the board office, 212 N. Ottawa Street. The public is invited to join.