5/29/14 - A public district and a local charter school could be coming together for a somewhat rare type of agreement in hopes of benefiting students. Kensington Woods High School is located on the Cleary University campus in Genoa Township but its lease is up at the end of June. Pinckney Community Schools will close Lakeland Elementary at the end of the school year to help save money for the deficit district and compensate for a shrinking student body. After learning about the situation with Kensington Woods being forced to find a new location in a relatively short period of time or face having to close its doors, Pinckney is proposing to lease a portion of Lakeland Elementary next year for $140,000, plus the cost of utilities. Superintendent Rick Todd says thereâs been a lot of dialogue and feels itâs the best thing to help kids sustain their successful learning environment but also help Pinckney generate some unexpected revenue. When it comes to the public and charter school debate, Todd says the reality is that the legislature set up an unbalanced system and created an unfortunate environment between schools that has turned competitive by nature. He tells WHMI theyâre looking forward to forging new partnerships ahead and creating a win-win for everyone. Todd says theyâre not looking to sell the Lakeland building because itâs in great shape and is a good community resource so if they can utilize it with kids and learning, thatâs much more preferable to having it sit empty. Todd says the lease proposal is comparable to the one that Kensington Woods has at Cleary and it will be up to them to come back with an answer, possibly within the next week. (JM)
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