Ann Arbor school board to decide schools of choice proposal in two weeks
Parents outside the Ann Arbor school district with children entering kindergarten, first and sixth grade next fall may soon have a new option to consider for their children's schooling.
The Ann Arbor school board heard a proposal Wednesday night from Superintendent Todd Roberts that would open 170 seats in district schools - 60 at kindergarten, 60 at first grade and 50 at sixth grade.
The goal: Raising a projected $1.1 million in revenue for a district struggling to meet a budget hole that could climb as high as nearly $20 million next year, depending on decisions being made at the state level about per-student funding.
Board members peppered administrators with questions about the schools of choice proposal, but didn't offer any opinion on the plan Wednesday. Board members are scheduled to vote on the proposal at their meeting in two weeks.
Ann Arbor Superintendent Todd Roberts
Also at that meeting, the board is scheduled to hear Roberts’ full plan for the district's budget.
Roberts said he’s bringing the schools of choice part early because administrators would like to open the window for people to apply for the seats as soon as April 1 if the board approves it.
Under the plan, parents throughout Washtenaw County would have 30 days to apply for one of the open seats in the Ann Arbor district. If more people apply than there are seats, the district would award the seats using a lottery system. Students who were accepted would be able to stay in the district until they graduate or transfer out at any point.
Under the state’s funding system, districts receive a flat fee per student. That money makes up the bulk of each district’s revenue. The amount paid varies by district - Ann Arbor gets the most of any county school, at more than $9,000 per student.
Under state law, each student who would transfer to Ann Arbor from another district would bring that district's per-student dollars to Ann Arbor.
Roberts said district administrators projected all the students would come with roughly $7,000 per-student funding. That’s taking the lowest amount paid to local districts and projecting a reduction in state aid to it, Roberts said.
Roberts said the goal is to place the students at schools with space available, and not add any additional staff. Current schools with open seats include be all five middle schools and Abbot, Bryant, Carpenter, Dicken, Eberwhite, Lakewood, Logan, Northside, Pittsfield and Wines elementary schools.
“It’s all revenue generating without the expenses,” he said.
Trustee Randy Friedman asked Roberts whether the move would generate short-term revenue but end up costing the district down the line.
Roberts said demographic projections show the district should have the ability to handle the added number of students as they move through the system in the coming years.
The majority of other Washtenaw County schools offer some form of schools of choice.
David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.
Comments
limmy
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 9:44 p.m.
I am not so sure this area needs another charter elementary school. We really need a small/medium sized charter high school here. That is, a real high school -- not K12 and not the middle college concept. It used to be considered too expensive, but now everyone is expecting to pay to play and provide transportation anyway. It would really help things to have another high school option. At this point students that don't get into Community have no real choices for an inclusive and personalized school setting.
motheroffour
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 9:05 p.m.
I just returned from an organization/information type meeting that provided some insight about a possible new charter school in West Ann Arbor. Some of the people organizing this school are experienced educators looking to retire and still remain active in the feild that they love, teaching young children. The basics are that formation of a school that can select students based upon one very simple criteria; those that prefer a strong and basic fundementals designed for the "Average and Hard Working Student". It is very appealing. These educations would base admission on an understanding that a somewhat structured environment for instruction is best. No kids running around poking everyone within arms reach in the classroom. This is the type behavior that has become not only accepted but excouraged in the AAPS. It looks like a public meeting with a public announcement is in the works for the Oak Valley Library/Conference Room in the near term future. I certainly hope that the school is "open enrollment" status and allow families the opportunity to explore this school and what it offers.
AARES
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 5:29 p.m.
I wonder about Roberts Its all revenue generating without the expenses,. It is impossible for me to believe that there are not incremental costs per student. I understand that some of the costs may be fixed at least in the short run. However, it also seems to me that there are costs per student. For example, field trips. We have been told they lack money for them already and each student has to add costs there. Will we cut those out? Each kid also generates trash which means more janitors, disposal costs, etc. More directly, as class sizes get larger it seems aids are often added. We also need text books, copies, supplies etc. Maybe all of these costs are minimal, but I would want to see a break down first. We have heard repeatedly that one of the reasons for high costs are the needs for special education. Would children with special needs be excluded? Otherwise, it may be the parents of children with special needs will be most likely to be attracted to the AA system. I know of people who choose to move to AA for the special needs, I assume this would save them the move. I also think they need to factor in the impact of losing some of the AA students. Each time my kids class size grows we consider again the value of public school. Right now we feel public school works as the kids get a good education. But as class size grows, I am not so sure. Added to that, one of the big attractions of public school is the community feel. We like that our kids go to school with other kids from the same area the same kids they bump into at the park, shopping, on sports teams etc. As that ratio gets diluted, so does the value of having the public school experience. If you lose AA kids, you lose their dollars (which are greater per head) and the support of the local parents. This is not a decision to be rushed. My feeling is that I would rather look at other ways to control costs firsts whether combining schools if there is really excess space, adding fees etc.
motheroffour
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 10:59 a.m.
There are many alternatives that have been cosidered in the past to help reduce costs in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Some of the options are less desirable than others becaue they will disrupt some lives, especially those working pair families. One option that is/should be considered is to eliminate principals and building level administration. If you eliminate these types of positions at half of the schools you could save an estimated $1.9 Million/Year. Share the responsibilty among remaining administrators. It is not easy on those that would be eliminated but overall program offerings could stay intact. Another option is to maximize the use of space by creating K,1,2 and 3,4,5 grade schools. Under this plan Lakewood and Abbott Schools would be combined and configure K, 1, 2 at Lakewood and 3,4,5 at Abbott. Lawton and Dicken would configure with K,1,2 at Dicken and 3,4,5 would be at Lawton. Wines and Ebberwhite would remain intact. This would not effect the middle schools since the school pairing would remain intact. Comminity High School could also be incorporated into Skyline High School to maxamize the use of available space. Also, Community High School could be closed with a cost savings. Lot of ides area out there so examination of options is good. We don't need to start with fears that children will lose should we don't budget more funds. There is no conflict to reducing costs and maintaining all programs. Actually, we can offer improvements to everyone. If we configure our schools to be able to accept more students we don't need to ever consider the word lottery-we all know what that book is about!
just a homeowner
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 10:21 a.m.
The schools listed didn't opt out for-choice. They are quite full. Angell, for example, is small and quite diverse and has more students than the capacity allows.
Elizabeth Nelson
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 9:59 a.m.
I think Todd Roberts anticipated the suspicion of HOW these particular schools were chosen-- he was pretty quick to explain that it was about projected 'available space.' Still, I wonder about the coincidence that the most affluent schools (Angell, Burns Park, King) always exempt themselves from any transfers within district (and now this new out-of-district issue). Burns Park, I think, allows EDO kindergarteners to enroll from other neighborhoods but then won't let them continue attending later grades (how's that for an incentive to keep outsiders OUT). Based on these policies, you'd think those specific schools are on the verge of overcrowding (really?!). Speaking to an earlier comment about the diversity of schools on the list-- I'm not sure Eberwhite is terribly diverse if you define it by race and defined by economics it probably has not-too-many kids who receive free lunch, but there also isn't the other end of extreme wealth that exists in other neighborhoods. I don't know anything about Wines, but Eberwhite is pretty welcoming to transfers, we have a lot of them... of course, I would laugh pretty hard if some of the 'we don't want outsiders' schools were the primary targets of out-of-district transfers, specifically to increase socio-ECONOMIC diversity. I guess no one in administration would be brave enough to float that plan...haha
jns131
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 9:58 a.m.
A lot of parents may come to Ann Arbor under school of choice, but are they going to bring their children knowing full well that Ann Arbor is going to privatize their drivers,monitors and custodial staff? When in their own district their custodians, drivers and monitors are not? Washtenaw County has district custodians, drivers and monitors. Ann Arbor would be the only ones who would throw theirs under the bus. Food for thought? Manchester still votes NO for privatization every chance it comes up for vote. I don't mind school choice, but I do mind how their own are treated. The writer of this article failed to mentioned that the vote for privatization is also on March 24. Looks like more then teachers are going to get a pink slip on April 1.
JenM
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 9:14 a.m.
If the schools-of-choice program goes through, it would behoove the administration to watch those 60 kindergarten openings. Looks like the schools "with space" (how was this determined?) are some of the ones that offer all-day kindergarten. You might get their per-pupil funding for one year, until they head back to their home district or private schools for 1st grade. Also, based on the size of the current kindergarten class at Bryant, it is unlikely that there will be space for more 1st graders there next year unless a teacher is added at that grade level.
jeffsab
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 8:53 a.m.
This is not as simple as setting up a turn-style and collecting $7,000 from every student to walk through it. What happens, for instance, when students from outside the district begin vying for one of the scarce enrollment slots at Community (or put in their transfer application to Open)? If parents from outside the district want to send their kids to Ann Arbor, they can do what my family and many others have done: Move here.
Dr. I. Emsayin
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 7:08 a.m.
The writer of this article needs to proofread (as taught in the Ann Arbor Public Schools). "Students who were accepted would be able to can stay..." Why does Trustee Friedman wonder why it may "cost the district more down the line?" Does it have to do with the governor's proposal to only replace one or two of every three retiring teachers she hopes to push out with her plan? If the district wants to add students, then perhaps it should not be so eager to lose experienced teachers. I will be interested to see how the Wines parents vote on this proposal. For the most part, the schools with space have diversity, even a high proportion of minority students. Wines does not. Perhaps newer teachers, who fear pink slips on April 1, will be relieved if more students are admitted to the district (while others who fear middle schooling in Ann Arbor flee; what's wrong with this picture?). Meanwhile, it will be interesting if the governor's plan to eliminate 39,000 from the workforce by eliminating dental and vision insurance in retirement will be enough to scare those teachers away and accept a mere 1,000 to 2,000 more a year as an incentive.