Lapeer Community Schools will host two task force meetings in the coming weeks to engage the community in the process of identifying the future configuration of the District’s 6-9th graders. The first will be held April 22 from 6-8 p.m. at Rolland-Warner Middle School. The second, also from 6-8 p.m., will be held May 29 at Zemmer Middle School.

This new 6-9th Grade Configuration Task Force will provide input as the Board of Education settles on a new structure for middle school facilities after the consolidation of East and West High Schools into a 10-12 high school at East in the fall of 2014.

Board of Education Vice President Gary Oyster encouraged attendees at Thursday night’s Board Meeting to tell their friends and to get involved.

“We need your skill, your expertise and background to help us make some important decisions in the coming months,” Oyster said. “Don’t sit back; we need you to be a part of this.”

The two configurations that are currently being discussed involve keeping our ninth graders in their middle school buildings or housing 6-7th graders at one middle school facility and 8-9th graders at another.

The 2014-15 high school consolidation was unanimously approved by the Board of Education on March 21 as part of the District’s 4-year Strategic Plan first presented in February 2012.

LCS Superintendent Matt Wandrie said that he will come to the Board in June with a final recommendation based on a number of factors, including discussions at the task force level.