Schools

School Board Offers a Look Forward to Next Year

The West Bloomfield School District Board of Education heard from a concerned community regarding the current budget deficit, and it welcomed new administrators.

It’s been almost a month since the West Bloomfield School District as part of the budget priorities/strategic visioning process. However, with one week left until the district will hear those proposals, questions remain regarding major issues for programs that face suggested cuts, including schools of choice.

“Without schools of choice, the school district would be a much smaller organization, with probably fewer active schools,” , district parent and co-chair of the Building and Enrollment Planning Committee, said during the public comments portion of the Board of Education meeting Monday night at .

"What does that mean to the school system?" Forhan asked. "What are the implications when one-third of your students are represented by parents who can’t vote in school board elections?”

Find out what's happening in West Bloomfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The current schools of choice enrollment accounts for about 26 percent of all students in the district, the fourth-highest percentage in Oakland County.

To help ease this year's $187,000 budget deficit, the district has said that on May 16, the board of education will hear the ideas of committees formed. The board must finalize a budget by June 30 deadline.

Find out what's happening in West Bloomfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Forhan said the primary objective of her committee is not to address the issues surrounding the schools of choice program, but to develop a “cohesive and thoughtful analysis.”

“The overall effort includes the words ‘strategic visioning,’ ” Forhan said. “Surely, a long-term enrollment plan must be a part of a strategic vision.”

Other highlights from Monday's school board meeting:

  • The district publicly welcomed four new administrators, including Robin Kocher, principal at Fischer Elementary School in the Taylor Public Schools District, who will replace longtime Principal Kathy Sheiko upon her retirement effective July 1. and music teacher Arthur Ebert will become an assistant principal at WBHS, while Jennifer Newman will leave her post as assistant principal of Abbott to become head of school at Oakland Early College. Abbott science teacher Eric Pace will take over Newman’s role as assistant principal.
  • Rick Arnett, assistant superintendent for human resources, addressed the board regarding 21 teacher layoffs, which he said mostly took place at the elementary school level due to cuts in secondary education. The laid-off teachers were informed during the past week.
  • The board announced that ongoing negotiations between the district and the West Bloomfield Education Association will continue at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The board would not comment on recent news of a lawsuit filed last week by the WBEA alleging an unfair labor practice regarding a 10 percent pay cut and retroactive step freeze at its meeting March 31. About 125 teachers and community members picketed outside West Bloomfield High School before Monday's board meeting.
  • Robert Martin, assistant superintendent for instruction, and Roosevelt Elementary School Principal Beth Feitan presented a proposal for Roosevelt to shift in its Title I classification from a targeted assistance school program to a schoolwide school program, as defined by the Michigan Department of Education. Roosevelt receives federal funds on the basis that more than 40 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced lunches, which, Feitan said, is currently being targeted to supplement certain students who are having difficulties in reading and writing. The proposal, which would go into effect for the 2012-13 school year at the earliest, would move the funds to supplement the entire student body. The board and Superintendent JoAnn Andrees gave approval to Feitan to begin a one-year planning process to shift to a schoolwide plan and will hear the proposal again before submission to the state Board of Education.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from West Bloomfield