Schools

Berkley School District Grapples With Proposed Schools of Choice Legislation

If passed, all public schools throughout Michigan would be required to participate in the program.

The much-anticipated Schools of Choice legislation, introduced as part of a larger package of bills that are slated as educational reform by Gov. Rick Snyder, leaves many questions unanswered, according to officials.

Senate Bill 624, introduced Sept. 7 to the Michigan Legislature by Sen. Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair) and subsequently referred to the Committee on Education, would require all public schools in the state to participate in the SOC program.

Schools of Choice is a program that public school districts currently may opt in or out of that allows out-of-district students to enroll. Under the current system, districts have control over how to implement the program and to whom they want to offer the opportunity to enroll.

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Senate Bill 624 essentially edits 1979 Public Act 94 that allowed public schools the option to invite out-of-district students to enroll in their district. 

Currently, the  Board of Education decides each November whether to renew its participation in Schools of Choice, BSD communications supervisor Shira Good said. If SOC participation is renewed, the district begins accepting applications in December and sends notifications in February.

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The district caps SOC enrollment at approximately 20 percent and runs a lottery to determine which students will be accepted in kindergarten through fifth grade, Good said.

Older students can pay tuition, get a waiver from their home district to bring their foundation allowance with them or establish residency if they'd prefer to attend school in the Berkley School District, she said.

"We only accept students in K through five so when they come to us, they're still pretty new to us and we can get them in our program," Good said, explaining that the learning gap between BSD students and out-of-district students can be much wider in the higher grades.

"It can be a lot when you have a student coming in who's not ready for algebra," she said. "Then, that's extra funding for us to have someone work with them and then bring them up to speed."

Good said it is not clear who would foot the bill for those extra resources under the draft legislation.

The draft legislation also fails to spell out how transportation for special education students who opt to participate in Schools of Choice would be funded, she said.

"There's a lot of logistics because we're legally bound to provide transportation (for special education students)," Good said. "Are they going to change the state mandates?"

Board of Education President Marc Katz echoed that sentiment Monday night during a regular board meeting at the in Oak Park.

Katz said immediately after learning about the draft legislation, he contacted legislators to seek clarification.

The answers he received – "We don't know" or "We hadn't thought of that – failed to instill confidence, Katz said. So, he and Superintendent Michael Simeck have offered to testify in Lansing. Katz also urged community members to write letters and make phone calls to lawmakers to express their desires.

Another concern among BSD officials and parents is how Schools of Choice impacts the larger community.

"For taxpayers to pay a higher tax base for better schools, then have other students whose families pay less," come into the district creates an imbalance, said Good, who added that property values also could be impacted.

For example, she asked, what would happen if spaces in the district filled up with out-of-district students and a family with children moved into the neighborhood? Would those students be rejected from the Berkley School District? She said the draft legislation does not clarify that point.

"The quality of the schools, the quality of the neighborhoods, the consistency of all of that is being threatened," she warned, and urged community members to contact their legislators to express what they want for their local schools.

"(Schools of Choice) is lousy," Huntington Woods resident Hope Fenton Hesano wrote on the Berkley Patch Facebook page. "What is the point of having local school districts if they have no control anymore?"

The draft of the newly introduced bill also calls for local districts to determine their own capacity – wording that raises more questions than it answers, Good said.

The legislation does not make clear what capacity is based upon –whether it's staffing, current class sizes, ideal class sizes or some other factor, Good said.

Although the district still would determine capacity, the bill outlines a specific time frame in which it must be completed. According to the draft, the capacity for each grade, school and special program would be determined no later than the second Friday in August.

If there were seats open beyond those students in the district, districts then would be required to publish a list of the open seats by grades, schools and special programs.

Out-of-district students, which are limited to students within Michigan, would have 15 to 30 days to apply and the district would be required to notify those admitted no later than by the end of the first week of school. Districts also would be required to maintain a waiting list if there are more applicants than available seats. 

If enrollment changes before the school year begins or within the first week, districts must admit out-of-district students from the waiting list. If there are more open seats than those on the waiting list, and the district receives more applications further into the school year, the district may wait to enroll the student until the next semester or trimester.

"Those who can leave (less-desired districts) will. Those who can't leave won't. So, those districts that are in need of help won't get any better," Good said. "There are a lot of people who wonder if this is just a tool to dismantle public education in favor of another system."

While some parents disagree with the idea of opening Schools of Choice statewide, others choose to see the silver lining.

"I think it helps bring a more diverse population into our schools, one that mirrors a real world experience," Berkley resident Libby Turpin wrote on the Berkley Patch Facebook page.

The Committee on Education is likely to have public hearings on the drafted bill and it will have to be passed by both the Senate and the House before being introduced to Snyder for his final stamp of approval. 

Additionally, Schools of Choice is part of a package of five drafted bills and its passage is contingent upon the passage of the other four. Those include Senate Bills 618, 619, 620 and 621, which seek to amend laws related to charter schools, to privatize teachers, cyber schools and school aid funding.

"We, as board members, have to be really proactive as some of this stuff starts moving forward," Katz said. "It is really scary when you read the legislation."


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