School starting on Aug. 20 ended up not being good news for Rene Roberts.
The Webber Elementary School parent complained to Lake Orion School Board members on Aug. 27 that the school wasn’t ready to open.
She said she wasn’t happy to find out the playground equipment was not yet installed, the kitchen wasn’t yet functional and her child’s teacher had just received her workstation ( a week after school started).
According to Roberts, students were being offered Cheerio bowls and Caesar salads for lunch. “I didn’t realize our children were being put on diets,” she added. “And the playground was supposed to be done. Teachers were operating under not very good conditions.”
Because school improvement projects were not yet complete, Roberts thought the school start should have been pushed back to Aug. 25 — the start of school for many school systems in Oakland County.
“You could have made up the days,” she added.
Parent Jayne Imber agreed with Roberts. Ember was on a committee that looked at Webber’s improvements. “We were assured the playground would be ready. As a parent, I’m being steered wrong,” she said
Imber also has a child at Waldon Middle School. The school lost power twice before school started, during the nationwide blackout and a week later when a nearby transformer went dead.
“I’m amazed they even opened. They had no power; they were working in the dark (getting ready for school).. Couldn’t you have delayed school one or two days for Waldon?” Imber asked.
Despite hearing the women’s complaints, Barton & Malows project manager, Tom Taylor, said it was a successful summer for the district’s construction projects.
“There was a tremendous amount of work done. We did set goals and didn’t achieve some of those goals,” he added.
As far as the (school) kitchens, we had some code issues and we had to order some different units.”
He told board members Webber’s kitchen would be the last one to be completed (about a week from now). Playgrounds, except for Pine Tree Elementary School, should all be installed sometime this week.
“I apologize for your frustrations,” Taylor told the two mothers. “I know (the beginning of school) it wasn’t necessarily ideal.
“I’ve been in this district for a long time. People here have high expectations. All the loose ends will be cleaned up soon.”
According to LO Superintendent Dr. Craig Younkman, some furniture supplies/parts had to be back-ordered.
“It was a frustrating process,” he added. “At the beginning of school I think suppliers gave a little bit to everybody.”
Younkman said computer technicians are also working on problems at Waldon and Scripps Middle School. “We had some wiring issues at Waldon that didn’t get done in a timely fashion. Oakview had some similar problems when it opened last year.”
Preliminary enrollment shows there are about 7,615 students in the school district, up 160 plus from last year.
This year’s budget is based on a student increase of 150.
“We’re in good shape as far as the budget is concerned,” Younkman said.