More than 50 residents of the Dales neighborhood, along with city and school officials, packed the media library at the Digital Learning Center Thursday evening for a meeting about the school.
The public forum was initiated by neighbors who have had concerns over recent criminal activity that happened outside of the school on Allen Street, formerly known as the Taft Education Center.
Last December, a student was shot in the leg outside the school in what police called a "robbery gone bad." This past October, several students were arrested after a fight outside the school. A gang-related fight was reported the following week.
The Digital Learning Center is an alternative high school that took over the building at the start of the 2012-2013 school year. This electronic approach to learning is what Ferndale Public Schools Superintendent Gary Meier calls "an evolution of adult and alternative education programming.”
Though 800 students attend the DLC, no more than 250 are present at the school at any given time, school officials explained.
The students are sorted by groups - the ‘A’ group attends class all day Monday and Tuesday, and in the mornings only on Wednesday. The ‘B’ group attends class Wednesday afternoon and all day on Thursday and Friday. The ‘C’ group, made up of about 200 students, is online only.
Ferndale Police Chief Tim Collins said 33 staff members and a resource police officer are employed at the DLC, compared with 50 staff members and one police officer to watch over 1,200 students at the Ferndale High School and Middle School building on Pinecrest.
The students at the DLC live in multiple cities other than Ferndale including Berkley, Detroit, Macomb, Romulus, Oak Park and Madison Heights, said
DLC director Renee Heard.
Crime statistics presented
Chief Collins showed statistical charts to those present at Thursday night's meeting. With a map displaying the area within 1,500 feet of the school, he compared data from 2011 and 2012. Last year from Aug. 22 through Nov, 8, six assaults happened within that area; two of those were associated with Taft.
Since the beginning of this school year, three robberies happened within the map; two were associated with the DLC.
After seeing the data displayed by Collins, many of the residents expressed concern that the police department was not taking into account incidents that happened after-hours and during the night, as well as by students' friends who do not attend the school.
One resident said, "The Dales were a sleepy, little neighborhood until the school came here."
Others were concerned as to how the DLC is working with its students to address the issues that have been happening there.
"We're working for the good of the students who attend school here as well as the good of the neighborhood," said Superintendent Meier.
Second meeting scheduled
There will be another public forum held on Dec. 5 at 6:30 p.m. Those with questions or who are interested in learning more about the DLC can call the main office at (248) 586-8910.
DLC director Renee Heard said school officials would like to hold regular monthly meetings in the future. She also expressed desire to form a School Improvement Committee, inviting residents to come and represent the community.
Ferndale City Council member Melanie Piana, who is also a resident of the Dales and helped organize the meeting, suggested that certain steps need to be taken in forming a neighborhood group. These steps include figuring out the boundaries of the neighborhood, identifying the challenges present and creating a plan, as well as establishing a committee.
Residents expressed that at the Dec. 5 meeting, they would like more information on the graduation rates in the past of Taft students, the percent of those attending the DLC that are Ferndale residents, the resources being used to address the crime issue and exactly how the school benefits Ferndale directly.
Piana said at the end of the meeting that tonight was not about “finding solutions but figuring out” the steps to head in the right direction.
Anyone who notices any suspicious activity in their neighborhood is asked to call 911 if it is an emergency or the non-emergency line of the Ferndale Police Dept. at (248) 541-3650.
You can also find out more information by visiting the Dales Facebook page.
I expect the new "BOLD" group of school board members to address this issue directly. I'm not saying we should close the program, and I'm not saying money is the only factor or even the most important factor, but I think residents need to know what impact such a decision would have. If closing the program means we either find more revenue or start cutting other educational programs, this needs to be part of the discussion.
1) I'm not sure if the police chief even looked at his stats before presenting them, because all I saw was a doubling of crimes from 2011 to 2012 in our area, whereas around the other high schools crime decreased or was stable. It basically worked out to a serious crime every 3-4 days our 1500sq ft area. This IS signifcant. Also, as far as I'm concerned this essentially the same population of students so I don't see why we have to act like this is a whole new situation. I want to look at records comparing 2010 to 2011 and what we have so far of 2012. 2) how many kids are from Ferndale? 3) how they are referred 4) can they do background criminal check?
you're kidding, right?
The last part makes me a little queasy, but others sleep well knowing it.
The vast majority of my practice is defending individuals accused of felonies in Wayne County. In 2012 alone, I have had no less than a dozen clients who were Taft or Jefferson students. I can't speak for the hundreds of other attorneys who do what I do, but I suspect that I am not the only one with clients who are Ferndale students. Suffice it to say that the Wayne County Circuit Court judges and probation department are very familiar with Ferndale Schools. The Courts do not send our clients to Ferndale but as a condition of probation they have to stay in school or get an education. Furthermore, I can't speculate on the numbers of misdemeanants at DCL because I only handle felonies. I would be interested in knowing how much revenue these programs are bringing to the district and how much extra municipal services (police/courts) they are costing the district.
Please indicate where in Ferndale this drug house is. Maybe by publicly shaming the police they will do something. Please provide more details. Side note, does Ferndale has a social media site that lets citizens activity report problems? For instance, I'm constantly seeing kids drinking and smoking pot at Geary Park. If I were able to note in publicly, this not only helps the police, but makes a public record that all Ferndale residents can see. It should be available to all and have a history of all reported incidents. Am I that naive to think that by keeping easily accessible open public records showing reports made by residents it will help the police and ultimately the community? The police can then establish patterns. How many times have you see something that seems questionable but don't think it warrants a call to the police? This could be like an online neighborhood watch group.
This tread may be an indicator of the possible benefits and negative results of a "community awareness" page. Any social media site for reporting problems in the city should be balanced with or focused on solutions, community building, and constructive discussions. If it's simply a place to anonymously post fears and assumptions about people possibly doing things we don't like or looking like people we don't like, we don't need it.
I also suggest residents keep records of their own phone calls to police, so if the problem isn't handled you have some data to address the police chief about.
Nice try to spin, Scott. It's the answer I would expect from a lawyer. But actually the Mayor lives 8 blocks and about 1/2 mile away, hardly close enough to have to deal with the problems of Taft. And a "short walk" isn't equal to having to live across the street or right next to DLC or University High School. You have a lot of nerve lecturing us on how we should welcome this into our neighborhoods when you don't have to live next to it.
Brian Clark- FPD is aware of the drug house and the dealings going on. It has gotten pretty far in the system (the case- despite the fact the owners were not arrested). I am not accusing the FPD with failing by any means- because the buck was passed; I am only saying that there were so many stones unturned and so much that went on- and with whatever reason (lack of resources, etc) nothing came of it other than a brush off. To me, the situation was poorly handled by whoever, and still is. I dont understand how an open investigation would allow for other people to just move in under the radar and those people not "being a concern", they could be from grosse pointe, or sterling heights and I would still be curious how another group of individuals could move in under these circumstances