A lot has happened since Opening Day at Parker. Students are settling into a routine, families have attended Open Houses at all the levels, fall sports are in full swing, and a little fall weather seems to have arrived.
Amy and I enjoyed celebrating our twins (Jack and Ryan) 8th birthday this week. As we settle into a new school year, we will certainly experience some increased stress from time to time. When this occurs, let's remind one another of those things that are most important and always maintain perspective.
As we conclude our second week I wanted to take an opportunity to update you on some district issues as well as some highlights from around #HighlanderNation.
District Updates
Facilities Utilization Process - One of the objectives included in the district’s strategic plan is to review our facility utilization and ensure that we are making the best use of our resources. To this end, I presented a scope and process to the Board of Education on August 22. You can review this presentation at the following link. The Board approved this scope and process at the September 12 meeting.
In turn, the Facilities Utilization Committee (consisting of board members, teachers, parents, support staff, and administrators) met on September 14 to begin this process. The Committee discussed the guiding principles and inputs for the process and developed options to examine in more detail (in a subcommittee structure). The three options being explored by the subcommittees are as follows: redistricting, building consolidation, and grade reconfiguration.
I will hold two community forums on Monday, September 19 at 6:00 p.m. at Parker and September 28 at 6:00 p.m. at the Board Office to share the scope and process with community members. In addition, I will hold an optional staff forum on September 28 at 4:30 p.m. at the Board Office. You are welcome to attend any of these forums if you are interested in learning more about this process.
I will continue to update you on this process.
Board of Education Election - In the upcoming November 8 election, there are four open seats on the HPS Board of Education. Three currently seated board members (Mike Yenshaw - President, Stacy Pasini - Vice President, Marcus Wilcox - Trustee) are running and three additional candidates (Leslie Bohnett, Courtney Tarara, Mitchell Zajac) are actively seeking one of the open seats. We are fortunate to have such interest from our community in serving our organization.
MacGregor's Message - Every other week of the school year I send an email communication to our families. The purpose of the communication is to provide updates on district happenings and future plans. I also post this on my page on the website. I will share these with you for your reference. The 9/16 edition is linked here.
Capital Improvement Projects - As you can imagine, in a district our size (1.5 million square feet of buildings, 167 square miles of land area), we always have capital improvements to address. With very little general fund flexibility, we have committed the funds from the Latson property sale to address some of the prioritized capital improvement needs around the district. This year you will see this through the site improvements at Highlander Way Middle School, the Freshmen Campus, the High School, and some of our elementary playgrounds. The picture below is of the SW ribbon cutting ceremony at their new playground; a monumental fund raising effort by the SW PTO with a small contribution from the district.
And the SW students showing their pride!
We will continue to utilize these funds to address the long-term prioritized capital needs.
Highlights
HHS Student Section Honors Lance Corporal Dominic Ciaramitaro - At the recent Howell vs. South Lyon football game, South Lyon named their stadium after former a graduate and Marine who lost his life serving our country. Our HHS student section showed their support and appreciation for Lance Corporal Dominic Ciaramitaro by honoring his family at halftime.United Way Day of Caring - Each year a number of our students participate in the United Way Day of Caring which supports our community in so many ways. This year 180 HPS students participated in 16 projects in our community!
In addition, many of our buildings benefited from the gracious support of our community. One such project was completed at Voyager by LOC Federal Credit Union and the before and after can be viewed below.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
Legislative Updates
Michigan Education Finance Study (from MASB) - On June 28, 2016, the completed Michigan Education Finance Study (adequacy study) was finally released. This study was required by Public Act 555 of 2015 as part of the package allowing for Proposal 1 and was conducted by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates.
The study was commissioned to determine the sufficient resources needed to provide a quality public education for all pupils and whether our system of funding is equitable. Among other requirements, they were also responsible for determining if school districts receive funds “in a fashion that ensures that all students have an equal opportunity” to become proficient in various subjects.
What, if anything, the Legislature or Governor will do with the recommendations or the results of the study as a whole remains to be seen. We are hopeful the results will impact future School Aid Budget decisions and will work to keep these findings in the forefront as those discussions happen.
____________________________________________
This is my first attempt with a blog. What am I missing here? Let me know in the comments and I'll add it in!
One Howell
#HighlanderNation
0 comments:
Post a Comment