Says program would remain if Oakland’s system was the same as other counties
By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
LAKE ORION — Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education President Danielle Bresett sat down with The Lake Orion Review on Thursday to provide more information surrounding the board’s decision to support district administration’s recommendation to close the Oakland County special needs program at Pine Tree Center.

While the board supported the decision, Bresett said the financial reasons the program is closing are out of the district’s hands.
She said there are key differences in the way intermediate school districts (ISD) are run, adding the program at the Pine Tree Center would remain open if Oakland County’s ISD was run differently. ISDs provide support and services to school districts including training teachers, piloting programs and coordinating early childhood, special education and vocational services across regions, according to Oakland School’s website.
For this reason, Bresett said she is advocating to change the system in Oakland County. Macomb and Genesee Counties
Every county in Michigan has their own ISD, and every ISD can choose to operate their center-based programs differently, said Bresett. For example, the ISDs in Genesee and Macomb counties own free-standing buildings that operate the programs, meaning the ISDs are financially responsible for additions and upgrades.
In Lake Orion’s district, Bresett said LOCS owns every building the center-based programs are in, which includes the Pine Tree Center. For this reason, LOCS is financially responsible for the significant upgrades the buildings would need to serve students in the program. This is the case for the Pine Tree Center, which requires a complete rebuild to suit students, according to a speech Bresett gave during public participation at an Oakland Schools ISD meeting.
That responsibility leaves LOCS with the three options to rebuild so the building is safe and appropriate for students, Bresett said.
1. Use funds from LOCS’s general fund or sinking fund.
2. Seek community approval for a bond to fund a rebuild.
3. Enter into a Capital Outlay Process through the PA-18 agreement.
Option one
Option one would not provide enough funds for a rebuild that would satisfy student needs, she said.
Bresett added the district’s architectural team met with staff and later presented findings to the board. One finding included the building’s circular halls inherently cause behavior problems for students. The shape lets students quickly run out of sight “allowing them to leave the building unseen,” Bresett said.
LOCS Superintendent Heidi Mercer previously said other centers with similar programs “are very linear and have wings.”
Option two
The second option, seeking community approval for a bond to fund the rebuild, would mean solely Lake Orion taxpayers would pay for a bond going toward a building in which just three of its 32 students are in-district students. The other 29 students come from around the county.
If Oakland County’s ISD was set up the same way Macomb and Genesee counties’ ISDs are, Oakland County taxpayers would also pay for the program instead of just Orion taxpayers.
Even if the community approved a bond to keep the program, Bresett said it would just delay the problem for a future board to address.
Option three
The PA-18 Capital Outlay Process allows districts to approach Oakland Schools for funds to cover needs in center-based programs. This process includes a vote, so the funds are not guaranteed. If they are received, they come with a 25-year commitment to running the program.
Bresett’s speech says the commitment would be especially risky because of how frequently educational funding fluctuates at the state and federal levels.
“And if (at) any time during that 25 years, for whatever reason, the district can no longer operate the center-based program, you have to pay back every cent,” Bresett said. “And there’s no such thing as depreciation.”
This puts the district in the same situation if they gained community approval for a bond.
By the time the 25 years pass, improvements from the rebuild would be at the end of their useful life, which Bresett said means the district would end up in the same situation it is in today.
“Like I said, in year 20 the building just becomes to the point of obsolete or just to the place where it’s not safe and functional anymore,” she said. “No matter if we took $5 or $5 million, we owe every cent back.”
While Bresett said the need for center-based programs is evident, and would argue demand is growing, she added districts’ willingness to operate the programs will continue to decline if the financial responsibility of maintaining aging facilities is placed entirely on a single district.
For this reason, Bresett also asked Oakland Schools during her speech to consider adopting a model similar to Macomb and Genesee County’s ISDs. By rethinking how these programs are structured and funded, Bresett told the ISD board the counties and districts can ensure the facilities are effective and have longevity for their students.
“So really, at the end of the day the problem is, in Oakland schools, all the financial obligation falls on the district, despite the fact that it’s a center-based county program that services students from everywhere,” Bresett said. “I’m advocating for changing the system in Oakland County.
“Is this the best practice for special-needs students in the county? No,” Bresett said. “So, at the bare minimum, can you study, can you take a look, can you see if there’s another way? And if the answer at the end of the day is ‘no, this is how we’re going to continue,” at least there’s been some thought put into it.”
Read more about the Pine Tree Center by visiting lakeorionreview.com and searching “Pine Tree.”