Pontiac school board begins process for making Pontiac High School a charter school
When students return to Pontiac High School in the fall, their school might be run by a private company.
The Pontiac school board voted Friday to begin the process of making Pontiac High School a charter school operated by an outside organization.
“I’m saying we must do something different, or we will lose our high school altogether,” said Superintendent Kelley Williams, mentioning the possibility of a takeover of the 1,200-student school by the state Educational Achievement Authority.
The school has made Adequate Yearly Progress, a federal measure of school performance, for one of the past 10 years. Pontiac High School was formed after Pontiac Central High School closed and merged with Pontiac Northern.
“What you see up on the board there is 10 consistent years of failing to educate our children,” Board Secretary Brenda Carter said after a presentation on the school’s academics.
The timeline approved by the board calls for the district to take applications beginning Monday for five to seven people who would serve on a board for the chartered Pontiac High School.
The board approved a budget on Friday that leaves the district’s general fund with a $15.8 million deficit at the end of the 2014 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
“We are operating in a debt mode week after week, month after month, year after year. That’s a fact,” said Board President Caroll Turpin.
The board also voted to move students from Walt Whitman Elementary to the district’s other elementary schools and move the International Technology Academy program into Whitman.
Trustee S. Barbara Raby said the district’s “most horrible deficit is not monetary. Our most horrible, shameful deficit is not educating our secondary students properly.”
The Pontiac school board voted Friday to begin the process of making Pontiac High School a charter school operated by an outside organization.
“I’m saying we must do something different, or we will lose our high school altogether,” said Superintendent Kelley Williams, mentioning the possibility of a takeover of the 1,200-student school by the state Educational Achievement Authority.
The school has made Adequate Yearly Progress, a federal measure of school performance, for one of the past 10 years. Pontiac High School was formed after Pontiac Central High School closed and merged with Pontiac Northern.
“What you see up on the board there is 10 consistent years of failing to educate our children,” Board Secretary Brenda Carter said after a presentation on the school’s academics.
The timeline approved by the board calls for the district to take applications beginning Monday for five to seven people who would serve on a board for the chartered Pontiac High School.
The board approved a budget on Friday that leaves the district’s general fund with a $15.8 million deficit at the end of the 2014 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
“We are operating in a debt mode week after week, month after month, year after year. That’s a fact,” said Board President Caroll Turpin.
The board also voted to move students from Walt Whitman Elementary to the district’s other elementary schools and move the International Technology Academy program into Whitman.
Trustee S. Barbara Raby said the district’s “most horrible deficit is not monetary. Our most horrible, shameful deficit is not educating our secondary students properly.”
Board discussion indicated that teachers would have the opportunity to interview for their jobs if a contractor took over operations at the high school.
Pontiac Education Association President Aimee McKeever said, “This isn’t the best thing that could happen for Pontiac Education Association members, as there are approximately 60 members we could lose.”
As to whether a charter high school is the best course of action for the district, “I have to go by the information the district provides us, that this is going to help them financially out of their deficit, as well as academic grades and testing scores,” McKeever said.
The vote was 5-1 to authorize a charter and begin the process, with Carter voting no, saying she wanted one week to study the issue. Trustee Mattie Hatchett was absent.
The district doesn’t have the luxury of time, Trustee Raby said.
“We either act, or we are in doomsday.”
Budget Director Paul Bryant said the move to a charter operator would save the district an estimated $3.8 million in the first year.
The Pontiac School District has a $37.7 million accumulated deficit, up from $8.5 million in 2009, and nearly shut its doors in May as it faced a $1 million payroll with $100,000 in the bank. The school board voted at that time to send new information to the Michigan Department of Education, which then approved the district’s deficit elimination plan and released school aid funds that had been withheld for months.
Bryant said if nothing is done, “this district will be on course to run out of dollars,” and said the district could potentially run out of cash in December.
The Pontiac School District is in the preliminary review stages of the process that can lead to the appointment of an emergency manager by Gov. Rick Snyder.
Pontiac Education Association President Aimee McKeever said, “This isn’t the best thing that could happen for Pontiac Education Association members, as there are approximately 60 members we could lose.”
As to whether a charter high school is the best course of action for the district, “I have to go by the information the district provides us, that this is going to help them financially out of their deficit, as well as academic grades and testing scores,” McKeever said.
The vote was 5-1 to authorize a charter and begin the process, with Carter voting no, saying she wanted one week to study the issue. Trustee Mattie Hatchett was absent.
The district doesn’t have the luxury of time, Trustee Raby said.
“We either act, or we are in doomsday.”
Budget Director Paul Bryant said the move to a charter operator would save the district an estimated $3.8 million in the first year.
The Pontiac School District has a $37.7 million accumulated deficit, up from $8.5 million in 2009, and nearly shut its doors in May as it faced a $1 million payroll with $100,000 in the bank. The school board voted at that time to send new information to the Michigan Department of Education, which then approved the district’s deficit elimination plan and released school aid funds that had been withheld for months.
Bryant said if nothing is done, “this district will be on course to run out of dollars,” and said the district could potentially run out of cash in December.
The Pontiac School District is in the preliminary review stages of the process that can lead to the appointment of an emergency manager by Gov. Rick Snyder.
School districts in Highland Park and Muskegon Heights, both of which have state-appointed emergency managers, have become all-charter districts. Carter described the outcome in Muskegon Heights as a “disaster.”
Superintendent Williams said, “We don’t know how this will end. We don’t. I’m just going to be frank and honest with you. But we’re putting every effort forward and making the best, (most) knowledgeable decision as it relates to what we’ve been dealt.”
Budget Director Bryant said the district must redo its deficit elimination plan to reflect the authorization of a charter.
Resident Linda Hasson left the meeting as the vote was about to be taken.
“I can’t contain myself, because you’re (the board) about to break your own deficit elimination plan,” she said.
The district’s cash crisis in May was largely a result of the state’s withholding of aid payments due to the district’s noncompliance with its deficit elimination plan.
Superintendent Williams said, “We don’t know how this will end. We don’t. I’m just going to be frank and honest with you. But we’re putting every effort forward and making the best, (most) knowledgeable decision as it relates to what we’ve been dealt.”
Budget Director Bryant said the district must redo its deficit elimination plan to reflect the authorization of a charter.
Resident Linda Hasson left the meeting as the vote was about to be taken.
“I can’t contain myself, because you’re (the board) about to break your own deficit elimination plan,” she said.
The district’s cash crisis in May was largely a result of the state’s withholding of aid payments due to the district’s noncompliance with its deficit elimination plan.
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