By Jim Newell

Review Editor

Lake Orion administrators and school board members have known for some time that closing Pine Tree Elementary was the “pivot point” of the facilities restructuring in the district.

Now, district officials are turning their sights on the Community Resource Educational Center (CERC) to see how it fits into the long-term programming plans.

“My recommendation is that we really need a master plan on all of the CERC building…and how it fits into operations,” Ginopolis said on Wednesday during the regular school meeting, suggesting the board form an ad-hoc committee to consider future uses of extra space at the CERC building.

The district already announced that it is working with Oakland Intermediate School District to use the lower level of Pine Tree as a Separate Center Program for All beginning in fall 2018, operating in conjunction with the OISD as a center-based special education facility for ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) elementary and middle school students in northern Oakland County.

Lake Orion would also move its PHASES program from the CERC building to the top half of Pine Tree, Ginopolis said.

Once the district implements its plans to move some programs and the special education offices from the CERC to the former Pine Tree Elementary building, administrators and the board must address the vacated space left from the move.

“Up until now, that building has housed a variety of functions. It has been the kind of building that, because of different programming needs we put things when we didn’t have anywhere else to put them,” Ginopolis said. “Now, it has to be part of the master plan of our whole district, not just (a plan for) that building.”

With the extra space at the CERC, officials have also suggested expanding the Learning Option program.

However, the cost and feasibility of remodeling the CERC remains in question.

Wes Goodman, district operations director, told the school board that the CERC building was built in the 1950s, and while structurally sound, “It does limit what we can do with the old infrastructure.”

“My thought is we really need to think about the whole building,” Goodman said. “What do we want in that building, and does it make sense?”

“Investing money into the existing structure, it’s expensive,” said Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance John Fitzgerald.

Board member Nate Butki agreed that the district should form an ad-hoc committee to examine how the CERC facility fits into the long-term plans.

“I think it’s a great recommendation and exactly what we need to do,” Butki said, adding the district needs to look at what sort of programming they could include at the CERC and then as costs of bringing in those programs and any facility updates.

Board Treasurer Jim Weidman said, “The key component in any decision is really driven off of programming” and that the district should “maintain the status quo for now until program options are presented.”

Ginopolis said she would work with her staff to develop an outline of how the district might proceed.

Board member Steven Drakos said he wasn’t “completely comfortable with the idea, but I am open-minded. I think we should take baby steps to see what sort of budget we are looking at.”

“The bottom line is, we know that we need to update our facilities,” said Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Rick Arnett. “How do we create modern facilities that are designed to teach in the modern era?”

Pine Tree Building Plans

“We are really moving forward with our plans, really looking at the facility, but also at our programming,” Ginopolis said, adding that the district starting to get a budget together to submit to the county.

The ISD will support startup programming costs, but Lake Orion schools is not asking for help with capital improvements at Pine Tree. If the programming dissolves, the school district would have to pay back the money the ISD contributed for any capital improvements.

“We are not asking for that. I don’t want to get us into that potential liability. Plus, we won’t have that many capital improvements needs that go beyond our sinking fund dollars,” Ginopolis said.