The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Sale of Ardis School OK'd amid complaints
By Kathleen Conat, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: April 10, 2008
The issue of selling Ardis School to the Hidaya Community Center brought out an overflow crowd to last week's meeting of the Ypsilanti Public Schools' Board of Education. The crowd, estimated at approximately 150 people, was large enough to require the meeting be moved to the Ypsilanti High School auditorium to meet fire safety requirements.
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About 25 people spoke about the sale. Judy Bloss, who said she lived near the school, was the first speaker opposed to the sale. She expressed regret that negotiations with the Salvation Army had fallen through. That group had withdrawn its bid on the property amid roadblocks created by its own regional and national overseers.
Bloss said she wanted more aggressive marketing of the property before a sale. She also accused the Hidaya group, which runs the Michigan Islamic Academy in Ann Arbor and wants the property to open an elementary school, of being connected with terrorists in Southfield.
Some later speakers followed on this theme, saying they did not trust the Hidaya people and wanted background checks before the sale went through. Aggressive marketing of the property was also encouraged before acceptance of the Hidaya bid.
Township resident Barbara Hale stated she believed the sale was a wrong business decision and she was against the sale of district assets. She questioned what would happen should the district's enrollment increase in the future.
While others agreed it was not a good idea to sell the district's assets, they said they would rather see the school sold than sitting empty as it has been since its closure in 2005.
Several others protested that the sale had not been well publicized and said they would have preferred the property be returned to the tax rolls, a result that would not have been seen in either a sale to the Salvation Army or to the Hidaya group.
Ypsilanti Township Clerk Brenda Stumbo said traffic to the school was a concern and she saw the sale as "infill development" that the township should regulate. She also said she wanted to see the open space part of the property preserved.
Lavada Weathers, the first speaker in favor of the sale, noted there had been no outcry with the Salvation Army was in negotiations to buy the property.
"We have a responsibility to provide unity to all," she said, "regardless of religion or color or other differences."
Several speakers from the Hidaya group said it has no ties to terrorists in Southfield or elsewhere and noted the success of the Michigan Islamic Academy, where the average ACT score is 29.
E. L. Weathers, a retired city planner who sits on the Ypsilanti Township Board of Review, noted that no one is lining up to buy the school and property sales of all types are currently low. He refuted Stumbo's claim of potential traffic problems at the site, noting that the school had been built to hold 500 students, much more than the 175 to 200 students Hidaya will bring to the building.
After the public input portion, Superintendent James Hawkins responded, agreeing the property was not aggressively marketed, but said two years ago the district's finance committee had not wanted aggressive marketing.
During those two years, the district has had the two offers already listed and a few inquiries about the property. He noted that, should the enrollment increase, the district still has two schools, George and Fletcher, which could be reopened.
Hawkins also detailed the decline in property values in the two years the property has been on the market. He pointed out that if the property was sold to Hidaya, the district would end the 2007-2008 school year with a $2.3 million surplus.
If, however, the sale was not approved, the district would end this current school year with a $44,000 deficit and would be down $2.6 million for the 2008-2009 school year. That would means cuts in program, teachers, staff and other areas, he said.
Board Trustee Eric Temple noted there had been no community meeting to discuss the proposed sale to the Salvation Army. Yet, that sale, too, would have kept the property off the tax rolls.
It was also possible, he said, for the Army to make part of the building into one of its halfway houses for drug addicts, so that sale, too, had a negative potential. Therefore, he supported the sale to Hidaya.
Trustee Sarah Devaney said she believed the property should have been aggressively marketed from the beginning, but that was not the decision before the board at this time. She said she did not understand the concern about traffic issues surrounding fewer students than the school had previously serviced and added she believed many of those who had spoken in opposition to the sale were prejudiced against the Hidaya people because of their religion and ethnicity.
Others on the board agreed and said they supported the sale. Trustee Tom Reiber said he had toured the Michigan Islamic Academy and had been made to feel welcome.
"I saw pleasant, polite students who were courteous and serious about their studies," he said. "We should welcome such students into our community."
Trustee Andrew Fanta opposed the sale, saying he thought it had been handled with a lack of oversight, diligence and respect for the community. Regarding the pressure to sell in order to fund the district, he said,"Fear is not a motivating factor for me. I am not fearful of the consequences if we don't sell this building."
A motion to sell Ardis School to the Hidaya Community Center for the sum of $3.9 million was then made, seconded and voted upon. It passed, 6-1, with Fanta dissenting.
Kathleen Conat is a longtime Ypsilanti resident and freelance writer for The Courier. She can be reached through editor@ypsilanticourier.com.
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