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Chelsea Schools open to School of Choice

By Crystal Hayduk

The board approved opening the Chelsea School District to School of Choice for the 2018-19 school year at its meeting on June 25.

Stipulations include no more than 25 non-resident students will be accepted in the first year; program space and availability will be reevaluated annually. Non-resident students will not make up more than 5% of the total district enrollment based on the annual fall count.

Chelsea School District will be open to children who reside both within Washtenaw Intermediate School District (constituent) and in intermediate school districts that border Washtenaw County (contiguous).

District staff’s children are permitted to enroll under a separate policy.

With all board members present, six voted for the open enrollment proposal.

Board Member Tammy Lehman cast the singular ‘no’ vote, stating during board discussion that she had received primarily opposing community feedback during the past two weeks through emails, telephone calls, texts, and conversations. She said that the community has expressed disappointment that there were no public forums.

“I don’t feel that we’ve done a thorough job of educating the Chelsea residents to get their support and because of this I will be voting no,” she said.

The vote took place following the first opportunity for public input, in which seven community members spoke about the subject of open enrollment. Five individuals spoke against School of Choice, citing its potential effect on the community including the risk for lowered property values.

Zoe Proegler, who also addressed the board at their meeting on June 11, reiterated her concern that School of Choice is an inequitable funding solution. She said that there can be advantages to increasing diversity, so she hoped that if the board approves open enrollment, that the district would strive to build programs (clubs, sports, etc.) to increase equity among students, whether they rely solely on bus or parent transportation.

“We’re jumping into this late, but we’re jumping into this with the full knowledge that it’s already decimated other school districts in the state,” said Proegler.

“And you need to take on the burden of understanding that we’re willingly participating in that and be better advocates to both state legislators and community organizations – to say we want to do better by our students and make sure that we’re building an equal playing field whether you were lucky enough to live here [or not],” she said.

Ryan Barney, who also had spoken against School of Choice at the June 11 meeting, said that he believed the board would support open enrollment, so his comments would center on suggestions related to implementation. 

“If you’re truly going to bridge the gap, then let’s say we’ll do it for one year,” he said. “And each year we’ll reevaluate how many students will be admitted. With the increase in funds, let us know specifically what you were able to do. That keeps you accountable and lets us know what you’re doing with that money.”

Barney closed his remarks requesting that the authority to make decisions remain with the elected board members and not be given to one person.

John Mann spoke in favor of open enrollment. He said he is a Chelsea High School graduate (Class of ’73) whose father served on the board of education and whose mother was a middle school teacher.

“Change is hard, but it’s often necessary,” he said. Mann said that he’s always been in favor of School of Choice, even though others in his household have been opposed. “There are good reasons on both sides of this equation. …”

He said that he believes administration has thoroughly studied the issue and that the board can trust the professional assessment of a “great academic leadership team.”

During the board discussion following public input and prior to their vote, Board Members Shawn Quilter and Greg Rhodes both suggested that the focus could be on the early elementary years to allow students to “grow” with the community.

Board Member Kristin van Reesema said that she advocates for increased dollars to focus on early literacy. “When kids are having trouble reading, they feel very negative about themselves and they get left behind. Each subsequent year gets very stressful and parents may feel they need to make a change.

“I think this is an important discussion to have on a yearly basis about identifying the gaps,” said van Reesema.  

Board President Anne Mann thanked the community for sharing their views. She admitted that School of Choice is a controversial topic, and she is thankful that many people came forward to express their opinions because it means they care.

Chelsea Update is awaiting information from the school district about the process for open enrollment. That information will be published when it is available.

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