Detroit school board fighting to keep at-risk schools open

DETROIT (WJBK) - One school board member wants to file a court injunction to stop underperforming Detroit schools from shutting down.

"The board has not met and that's what I'm advocating so we're going to have to have a special meeting to deal with that," LaMar Lemmons said.

"As a board we have been exploring all of our options so that we would make a data driven decision about what our next steps need to be," said Detroit School Board President Dr. Iris Taylor.

Both Lemmons and Taylor say, as a newly elected board, they should have time to be able to make changes and turn the underperforming schools around.

The entire district was under emergency state management from 2009 until just this month.

"We should not be penalized for the state's ineptitude in operating the Detroit Public Schools for those years and then hold us to their academic failures," Lemmons said.

"There are multiple balls in transition from the state that we have to manage. ... We're not sitting on our hands. Prior to being installed we put in 50-60 hours," Taylor said.

Lemmons is also concerned about how parents found out that their child's school was slated to close.

"They were notified by mail ...The parents received the letters that the school is about to close or may close, so parents are looking for alternatives," he said.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 14 but Lemmons hope to meet with fellow board members to discuss the possibility of a court injunction prior to that meeting.