Residents of Macomb Township¹s Winding Creek subdivision have filed a petition with the Macomb Intermediate School District to transfer from New Haven Schools to the Utica Community Schools. Source photo by Chris Williams

Approximately 195 out of 265 homeowners within the Winding Creek Subdivision, located along 26 Mile Road east of Romeo Plank, have signed the petition, which was filed with the MISD on Aug. 20. The residents argue that their location makes it inconvenient to travel from work to school, given that many of them work in the Sterling Heights, Utica and Shelby Township areas.

“The New Haven Elementary School is approximately 9.1 miles away from our subdivision,” said resident Timothy Brock. “If you’re a parent that works at 15 Mile Road and Van Dyke, it takes an hour and a half to get out there in rush hour.”

Brock has one student enrolled in New Haven Schools and works at General Dynamics in Sterling Heights, located on Mound Road. He said if he leaves work at 5 p.m. he often does not get home until 6:30 p.m. Students in “latch-key” programs must be picked up by 6 p.m. he said, which means many parents cannot utilize the program. The closest UCS Elementary School, Duncan Elementary, is approximately three miles down the road.

“If a parent does not get out of work until 5 or 5:30 p.m. then they can’t use the program,” he said. “It really does preclude us. And with gas prices the way they are, it really costs quite a bit. It’s a total 18-mile trip to the school if their kid wants to go to the school and play basketball or football.”

New Haven Superintendent James Avery said he is aware of the concern. Yet, as of press time, he had not been supplied with a copy of their petition.

“I have not received a copy of the petition,” Avery said. “We have tried to respond to their concerns ever since we first heard of them.”

Avery said that he realizes the location may pose some problems, but said he believes the concern is being exaggerated.

“We have timed it and, at most, it is a 20-minute bus ride from the subdivision to the elementary school,” Avery said. “Every school that I have talked to has said that’s a more than acceptable time.”

Avery said that while many latch-key programs do have time constraints, he said that there are still alternatives within the district.

“We actually have a latch-key program at the Seifert School, which runs later than the others and could accommodate them,” he said. “We transfer them by bus to the students at the other school which, actually, is about half the distance.”

Brock, however, said there are other points of contention between the subdivision and the New Haven district.

“They’re just flat-out a better district,” he said.

Several families in Winding Creek, Brock said, speak little to no English and the size of the New Haven District means they cannot offer English as a Second Language courses. That leaves many families faced with getting a tutor or transferring their students to classes within UCS where ESL is offered.

“This is the first I’ve heard that ESL is an issue with them,” Avery said. “We have an ESL program through the MISD and I do know that there are about 85 students from that subdivision enrolled in UCS under Schools of Choice.”

Under Schools of Choice guidelines, parents can elect to have their children attend schools in another district. That district, however, is not responsible for busing or transportation as they would be to students living within district boundaries.

Brock said the efforts to transfer to UCS previously occurred three years ago but this is the first time the petition was signed and sent to MISD. MISD officials have 60 days to look over the petition, ensure that Winding Creek comprises not more than 10 percent of the tax base for New Haven Schools and confirm that it is contiguous to the UCS district. Officials declined to comment further but said a hearing, if approved, could be held in mid-October.

Avery said New Haven officials are making every effort to work with parents and find a resolution to the problem.

“We have met with parents at various points in time during this process and we are hoping to address their concerns. But everybody also has to keep in mind that New Haven is the smallest school district in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties,” he said. “At the same time, I have to be sensitive to the needs of the residents and realize they do have valid concerns that we need to work with them on.”