FLINT, Mich. — Alumni and the deaf community have mixed feelings about selling the current site of the Michigan School for the Deaf to a private investor who would build a new school and lease it back to the institution, The Flint Journal reported.
David Sanderson, the school's chief administrator, said he expects a contract to be signed soon between the state, which owns the property, and Lurvey White Ventures, The Journal reported. The state Legislature would have to approve the transaction, the report said.
The proposal calls for the new school to be leased to the Michigan School for the Deaf for 30 years, but some in the audience at a recent meeting felt it should be longer, The Journal reported. Others were concerned that the state would discontinue funding and still others wanted certain items of historical or sentimental significance preserved at the site.
Sanderson said the proposal would forbid the new owners from renting to a different entity even after the lease was up, The Journal reported.
Freida Morrison, president of the Michigan School for the Deaf Alumni Association, told The Journal that worries over the future of the school persist and that support for the plan varies.
SOURCE:
The Flint Journal, "Michigan
School for the Deaf plan could move forward soon; concerns aired during alumni
meeting," Sept. 23, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education
Report, "Seeing the potential in deaf education," Aug. 28, 2009
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonprofit research and educational institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government. Through our research and education programs, we challenge government overreach and advocate for a free-market approach to public policy that frees people to realize their potential and dreams.
Please consider contributing to our work to advance a freer and more prosperous state.