Lathrup and Southfield will merge at end of 2015-2016 school year.

 Written Wednesday June 10th at 8:45 PM

The OAA in the 2016-2017 school year will be down from 24 schools to 23 schools.

Southfield and Southfield-Lathrup will now become one high school under a new identity.

With declining enrollment, less resources, and rising costs being the reason, the Southfield Board of Education approved a plan called "Imagine 2020." The vote passed by a 4-3 margin on Tuesday night at Lathrup.

Students of the merger will be at Southfield High School for the 2016-2017 school year. Lathrup meanwhile will convert into a Kindergarten through 12th grade University High School Prep Academy and at the Bussey Center in Southfield from three different academies. The move also cuts three schools in the district as well and converts some schools into K-12 schools and moves students elsewhere.

Southfield residents were not happy because of the job losses, a wage freeze, and not being allowed to hire new workers. This plan by the Southfield School Board is suppose to save $8.5 million according to Superintendent Lynda Wood. "We want all students to succeed and for families to have numerous quality choices as we manage the operations and resources of the district with sound decision making for the future of SPS" Wood mentioned to the Detroit Free Press.

Southfield schools released a statement about the new unified high school "the new unified high school will provide the best in both worlds to create a comprehensive program all under one roof."

Sports Impact:

There will be no changes in the 2015-2016 school year as this will be the final one for Lathrup.

In 2016-2017 there should not be an impact in sports as kids from Lathrup merge with Southfield with the exception of football and girls basketball.

The name of the new Southfield school is yet to be determined but its likely won't be the Blue Jays or Chargers.

In girls basketball the school district has two successful coaches, at Lathrup you have Michelle Jackson Marshall, whom has won a State Championship and has had successful stints as Chargers coach and in the Michigan Family AAU team. At Southfield you have Jamie Ginez and he has been successful as Blue Jays coach, it could be interesting who gets the job over there but both teams will be very good and senior heavy heading into the 2015-2016 school year. Lathrup is expected to be a State title favorite and win the Red while Southfield is the favorite in the Blue. I would suspect the new Southfield would be in the Red because of Lathrup's successes but if the OAA bases it on Southfield then they could be in the White.

In football, Southfield will likely have its staff in place with Tim Conley. It would be interesting who plays quarterback next season, either Reggie Harris, the Lathrup senior or Sam Johnson III, the Southfield sophomore. The new Southfield will move up to the Red based on enrollment divisions and see the likes of Orion, Clarkston, Oxford, Troy, Troy Athens, and West Bloomfield. They would be in Division One for playoffs and could be a major threat to Detroit Cass Tech in the playoffs.

OAA Impact:

The merger of the Southfield schools is a huge loss for the OAA as now the league could look at 7-7-8 or a 8-8-7 format in football and other sports.

Could the OAA look at adding a 24th member of the conference with Lathrup's departure? It's possible. A couple of candidates may include Brandon, Clawson, or the Waterford schools Waterford Kettering and Waterford Mott and see if they want to comeback into the OAA. Lapeer would be another option even though not in Oakland County. Travel wise it would make sense for each of these schools if they want to come back especially Brandon or Clawson.

Merger successes and disasters:

Successes:
When merging two schools you tend to get the best kids available from both schools, at least that's the plan. Lapeer was very successful in football (Won the Saginaw Valley South), girls basketball, volleyball, and softball as one school when Lapeer East and Lapeer West merged in 2014. Bloomfield Hills boys basketball went to the State Finals for Class A with Bloomfield Hills Andover and Bloomfield Hills Lahser merging in 2013 and their football program is in the Red after being forced from the Blue where they have struggled since.

Disasters:
When you have success early, you tend to have disasters later. Pontiac schools merged Pontiac Northern and Pontiac Central in 2009. They made the playoffs in football in their first season and in 2011 but they haven't made the playoffs since and financial troubles have haunted the school district since. When Royal Oak merged Royal Oak Kimball and Royal Oak Dondero in 2007, they have struggled especially in football where they haven't the playoffs since 2007 and have a 6-56 record since that season. They have also struggled in other sports but there is always hope in the future.

Thoughts:

My thoughts are the big losers in all of this is the rivalry. When you have two schools you have a lot of people play. Also the parents and students from 12 Mile that have to travel from Lathrup Village to Southfield. Southfield is a big area because it includes Lathrup Village and for them having to travel down Lahser Road past Interstate 696 during rush hour is not an easy thing to do. Lathrup students and parents could look at going to other schools if they don't want to go to the new Southfield, especially north toward Birmingham (Groves especially) or east toward Berkley for schooling options.

Athletic wise I'm curious to see what happens in girls basketball and football knowing that Southfield will get a huge enrollment hike with Lathrup students coming in in 2016-2017 but this will continue its rivalry with Oak Park and also Harrison but jobs will be lost and it will hurt the community in the long run.

Stay tuned to OAA Now as we cover this situation and what impact this move will be for the future of Southfield.