With numbers being released for a survey conducted by Epic MRA within the Trombly Elementary School catchment, the Grosse Pointe Public Schools Board of Education has agreed to keep Trombly for future use and repurposing, choosing to not sell in the school a 7-0 vote during the April 14 meeting. Further discussion regarding the school’s repurposing also took place at the April 28 meeting.
The board has emphasized their adamency to repurpose Trombly, which could mean turning it into a preschool, reopening it as an elementary school or finding another use for the building. These ideas were expressed at the April 14 meeting through the Epic MRA survey, which was intended to calculate both community enthusiasm and possible attendance for Trombly if it were to reopen.
“The goal of the survey was really to just understand: should Trombly reopen?” Epic MRA Project Manager Kelly Sullivan said at the April 14 meeting. “In order to allow the district to kickstart the conversation about the topic with a little bit of background data behind those discussions.”
Available from March 10 to 28, over 1600 postcards were sent to households in the former Trombly catchment area, which targeted households with children ages nine or under.
The survey showed staggering results that favored a repurposing of the building, with 71 percent of households, and 70 percent of households who currently attend non-GPPSS schools, saying they would send their child or children (ages five to nine) to Trombly if it were reopened as an elementary school. Another survey question showed 86 percent of households saying they would send their child or children to Trombly if it was opened as a preschool.
While Board Trustee Clint Derringer emphasized that the board is in consensus to not sell the building, they have yet to agree on what the use of it will be for the future.
“Establishing consensus initially was vital,” Derringer said at the April 28 meeting. “But we also have to maintain that unity of purpose and make sure that we’re clear. Let’s figure out where the disagreements are and what is the plan to make decisions on a reasonable timeline.”
During the April 28 meeting, the board agreed to move to vote on a resolution to officially repurpose Trombly during the May 13 meeting.
