Western Wayne Today

The Dearborn School District is working with the design firm Fielding International on a master plan that will guide construction within the district for the next 30 years.

A town hall was held May 15 during a school board meeting where the design firm answered questions from the public.

The plan will be crafted with projected enrollment and population trends as a guide, along with facility needs, future changes in education and efforts to ensure equitable access for all.

Three different scenarios were presented by the Fielding International to accommodate the district’s future growth.

“This is a 30-year master plan, so we are looking at it very holistically,” James Seaman, a Fielding International partner, said. “And you'll see in these scenarios it really would take 30 years to work through the entire build out here. So, it is a very holistic long-term plan.”

The first proposal was a school-by-school scenario, that would involve maintaining all school sites, along with converting Smith Middle School into a K-8 building. Under this initiative, any future development would be tailored to the needs of that specific school, along with integrating Pre-K classes into all elementary and K-8 buildings.

Some campuses would be completely replaced through this scenario, while others slated for renovations or enhancements. In order to accomplish this method, the district would need swing schools over 27 years to enact the plan. However, the board voiced concerns this proposal would disrupt a generation of students.

The hybrid model would follow a school-by-school idea with all elementary, middle and K-8 buildings. All three high schools would be combined into one building, but the student body would maintain its own identity and would share one main campus site. They would incorporate the preschools into the elementary and K-8 buildings and create one specialized education site at one of the old high schools.

This would keep the smaller neighborhoods in lower level schools intact while fostering greater overall community for the high school students. The timeline for this approach would be 26 years and would also include swing sites.

The consolidated approach would decrease the number of campuses and unify some of the grade levels.

Under this proposal, the district would have one high school campus, 14 K-8 campuses with no sole middle or elementary buildings, five preschool locations and three special facilities. The district would go from 30 campuses to 23 under a plan that would take 22 years to finish.