Quick Hits: Bloomfield Hills High School Timeline Discussed; Bullying Policy Updated

Any jubilation or relief felt amongst the administrators responsible for merging Andover and Lahser high schools under one roof didn't last long after the May 8 vote.

Once the taxpayers approved $59 million in public bonds for the reconstruction of the Andover site, it was time to begin consulting with the experts and start bringing their detailed transition plan to life.

"We've done a lot of work, and we were anticipating some sense of relief as a result of the election, and that lasted about 12 hours," Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Ed Bretzlaff told school board members Thursday night.

The day after the vote, Bretzlaff said his team began preparing for their initial meeting last Friday with architects, and followed that up with a larger meeting on Thursday with at least 30 stakeholders in the project linked by WebEx.

"It was a big meeting," he said. "Not only in terms of a kickoff, but there were more than 30 people beginning discussions about making sure they know what our anticipated needs are to continue to deliver our instruction program the way we hope to in the fall of 2015."

Bretzlaff shared the following timeline with the board:

• June 2012: Designers host focus groups for students currently in grades 9-12 at both high schools for a final study of anticipated student needs in the new building.
• End of June 2012: Program validation.
• August 2012: Schematic design of the unified Bloomfield Hills High School to be complete. The previous schematic outlined by consultants Fielding Nair International last fall was roughly 80 percent complete.
• January 2013: Design development completed by architects.
• February-March 2013: Construction documents complete.
• June 2013: Students vacate the current Andover site for the final time.

Bullying Policy Updated

The unanimously approved changes to the district's bullying policy Thursday to meet new state requirements. The existing policy, implemented in 2007, needed some updates to accommodate changes in technology and expectations regarding reporting practices. Specific changes included:

• A statement regarding retaliation for bullying and making false accusations about bullying.
• Notification of the parents or legal guardian of both the victim and alleged perpetrator in any bullying incident.
• Implementation of a procedure to document and report all bullying incidents to the board annually.
• Redefining 'at school' as any school building, bus or building event, as well as telecommunications devices owned by district.

The district had until June 6 to file the changes with the state.