School stuff: A ‘special’ board meeting on Wed night; another marathon session ending at 12:45 am. Gave up Penguins Game 3 for this one (I think, in hindsight, I would have gone to Star Trek and ditched the meeting if that conflict had happened).
The board voted to adopt the K-4, 5-6, 7-8 configuration, and they voted to delay implementation until 2010-11. They didn’t vote on what schools to close, so, that decision is still on the table for the meeting on Monday (which, I hope, is the last meeting I’ll attend for a while). Wednesday’s meeting was, again, a wonderful study in human nature, and, well, let me just go get the relevant part of my latest letter to the BOE.
Some background….Michigan allows students from other districts in a county to attend any district in the county they want. Whatever the initial intent of this law, given the nature of school funding based on numbers of students, the practice, at times, has turned into districts advertising for kids to come to their district (at Star Trek last night, there was an ad before the movie encouraging people to attend a school district.). Our school district doesn’t advertise, but, made the decision years ago to accept school-of-choice students to fill classrooms that were particularly empty. Of course, since we have the highest standardized test scores in the county, we’re an attraction.
“3) Regarding school of choice commentary at the last meeting, I have two thoughts to share:
a) It was stated that a school of choice student would cost the district $1000/year for the life of that student in the district. This is untrue; by this logic, that student’s foundation allowance would create a deficit, no matter what district the student attends. The district has presented data that suggests the cost of educating an elementary student is between $6,000 and $7,000. If you receive, on average, $7,600 for a SOC student, there would seem to be at least $600 per student that would go directly to the general fund for other purposes. There is a reduction in funds above costs that go the general fund that represent about $1,000/year.
b) You should be well aware of the destructive nature of this discussion. I had the opportunity to listen to one conversation during the break at Wednesday’s meeting, where one parent had the courage to question a community member’s assertion that SOC children bring no monies to this district (when, it’s simple fact that a majority of the funding for the general fund comes from the State of Michigan). The response? Not a reasoned discussion that SOC parents don’t pay bonds or sinking funds to our district (although those parents pay them in their home district, and some are higher than ours)….no, the response was pointed “Get your ‘ass’ out of my district!”.
That district, the one this voice of the community seemed to espouse Monday night, the one with the gates and guards at Jolly and Okemos road and the mansions and castles that look down on the masses, the one that the local stereotypes like to refer to, is not the district I think I live in. I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t speak to this Wednesday night after I heard it (I’ve learned my lesson about speaking while mad and didn’t think I could convey my thoughts concisely) and may still address this issue Monday night.
But you should be well aware of it. “
The person who said that quote actually ran for school board last go round. Glad I didn’t vote for her.
You may note I’m being more obtuse about the district name again; I’ve noted that I’m picking up more visitors searching for information about the school board and figured I’d try and keep the available references to a minimum.
Real School Stuff: Kevin had a track meet Wednesday; posted his best time yet in the 2 miles at 12:59. Actually timed him lap by lap this time….he ran the first 4 laps at the same pace, 1:32 but then slowly slowed down for the last 4, ending the last one a little over 1:40.
Christopher and Matthew are still running Mileage Club at school; Christopher’s more walking than running, Matthew’s trying hard to get to the 50 mile mark. He’s moving along; he’s coming up on 30 miles at this point and it’s his entire focus at lunch.
Christopher’s still flirting with perfection on the spelling test…brought home a 16/17, forgot the first ‘n’ in seventeen (and we know he knows how to spell this…not sure why we have these little errors) this time.
Weekend Stuff: Soccer tomorrow morning, going to Star Trek (yes, again! with Suzanne and the boys this time) that afternoon (in Imax…woo hoo!) and Penguins Saturday night. Sunday is make-sure-Mom-relaxes-after-a-really-stressful-week-of-work.
Star Trek: I thought it was awesome…..I’ve been looking forward to this movie for almost a year, and was really glad I didn’t walk away disappointed. Had goosebumps from the way they presented the last 5 minutes of the movie….
Anything Else?: The treehouse is at a stage where it’s being utilized; I’ll take some photos this weekend. Suzanne’s referring to it as a ‘tree deck’ until I get a structure up on it…..everyone’s a critic.
