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House Bill
5065 Ignites District Fight
by Al Elvin, Oakland Press, October 19, 2003
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Citing an
immediate need for parents to take control of their children's
education, state Rep. Shelley Goodman Taub, R-Bloomfield Hills,
has a plan she believes would assist them in that endeavor.
The initiative, now in the form of House Bill 5065, would allow
taxpayers to vote their communities out of a school district.
The bill is scheduled to be discussed later this month by the
House Education Committee.
The proposal has sparked interest in the greater Pontiac area,
where residents of at least one outlying community, Sylvan Lake,
hope to lead their children away from the aged infrastructure of
Pontiac schools and into the cutting-edge and sought-after West
Bloomfield School District.
"The objective is to allow communities and parents an
opportunity to decide which school districts they are in," Taub
said.
"If families are not happy in their current school district,
they should have the opportunity to change their school
district. Parents ought to know what's best for their children."
However, Pontiac school officials disagree.
The legislation and much of the hype surrounding it have Pontiac
officials concerned.
"It just opens up a Pandora's box," said Pontiac school board
President Richard Seay. "I don't fault any parent who does the
best for their children. But a decision like that has long-term
detrimental effects for poor school districts."
Seay added that school districts that receive less than $7,000
annually per pupil from the state - Pontiac gets $6,884 per
student - would fall into this "poor" category. Other Oakland
County districts with a similarly low foundation grant include:
Brandon and Holly ($6,700 per student), Clarkston ($6,947),
Huron Valley ($6,806), Madison ($6,728), Oxford ($6,358), and
South Lyon ($6,756).
Pontiac schools Superintendent Mildred Mason and Seay say they
would rather work with neighboring communities and build a good
rapport to keep them in the Pontiac school district than sit
back and watch as outlying areas vote themselves into more
affluent school systems.
Mason said she plans to have representation at city council and
township board meetings in other municipalities within the
district.
"I'm going to reconnect with them," she said. "As the new
district superintendent, I want them to understand we're under
new leadership. This is an opportunity to open up
communications."
The bill
Taub introduced House Bill 5065 on Sept. 24. Under the proposed
legislation, "an intermediate (school board) could transfer
territory from one school district to another contiguous school
district if it met all" of a set of circumstances.
House Education Committee Chairman Brian Palmer, a Republican
state representative from Romeo, said there will be an Oct. 28
committee hearing on the bill.
"It is not yet determined if a vote will be taken," he said.
If the committee approves the proposed legislation, it will be
sent to the floor, where all representatives can vote on it.
At least one state representative, Pontiac Democrat Clarence
Phillips, opposes the bill.
"Why try to come up with another process when there is already
one in place?" he said. "This is divisive, deceptive and
disruptive to the community.
"If something like this were enacted, it would create a
political mess and it would be political chaos."
According to a summary of the bill, the territory to be
transferred must be a subdivision, village, city or township
that includes property in more than one school district, and
must not have been transferred under this section of the law
within the past 15 years. Also, the intermediate school board
must be petitioned by a majority of the people who own property
and reside in the community that is to be transferred.
In addition, the board of the school district that will receive
the community also must approve the transfer, and the transfer
must be approved by a majority of voters in the school district
to which the municipality will be attached.
"I believe that people have a right to choose their school
district," Taub said. "What we have to remember is the people
who pay salaries have a right to decide where their children go
to school; that's it. We want to allow people in communities to
make that decision."
Currently, school district transfer requests and disputes are
handled by the intermediate school systems. Many, however,
prefer not to get involved and forward them to the Michigan
Department of Education's Office of Administrative Law. Three
administrative law judges hear the transfer requests and rule,
considering only educational opportunities children might gain.
Rulings by the administrative law judges are rarely overturned
but can be appealed through the courts.
Sylvan Lake residents will pay particularly close attention to
the bill's outcome since a vast majority are seeking to move
from the Pontiac school district to West Bloomfield schools.
Steve Wasko, spokesman for the West Bloomfield School District,
said he recently met with a group of three or four men hoping to
move all Sylvan Lake neighborhoods into the highly successful
school district. But for that to happen, Taub's bill must become
law.
Why move?
The perception of Pontiac schools to many Sylvan Lake residents
is that of a failing school district, mainly because of
consistently low scores on the Michigan Educational Assessment
Program tests, the barometer by which Michigan schools are often
measured.
But scores are improving, Mason said. And there are other "good
things" about the district that are rarely mentioned.
Some of the positives include the district's ability to maintain
and start new programs despite difficult financial times that
are causing other school systems to cut programs and charge
parents for extracurricular activities.
Other positives mentioned include success of two high school
robotics teams that rank among the best in the nation, an
improving curriculum, top-rated basketball teams and rising MEAP
scores.
However, the district still has some of the lowest MEAP scores
in the county and did not meet or beat state averages at any
grade level in 2003, according to the Michigan Department of
Treasury.
"The only school district in Oakland County that failed to meet
the state averages was Pontiac," said Sylvan Lake City
Councilman Pete Peters.
"This points out to me that voters made the right choice (in the
recent failed bond election), because the Pontiac school system
does not know how to educate our kids. And that's why we don't
want to give them any more money until they have proven they can
educate our children."
Ferndale Public Schools, which had higher scores than Pontiac,
mostly across the board, also had scores that were below the
state average from fourth through eighth grade, according to the
Michigan Department of Treasury.
Not all Pontiac schools failed to match or exceed state
averages. At least two of the district's 13 elementary schools
beat state averages in fourth grade math and English and fifth
grade science and social studies. Three middle schools also were
proficient in social studies, Mason noted.
Bob Taylor of the Michigan Department of Education's Office of
Administrative Law said Pontiac is by no means the only Oakland
County district which property owners have sought to leave.
In the last 15 years, the state office has heard 16 property
transfer requests in Oakland County. Districts that residents
have sought to leave include: Avondale, Birmingham,
Clarenceville, Holly, Huron Valley, Lake Orion, Oak Park,
Oxford, Rochester, South Lyon, Southfield, Walled Lake and
Waterford.
At least one other community has inquired about leaving Pontiac
schools in recent years, Seay said. Initially, a group that was
unhappy about student achievement in the Pontiac school district
wanted to move into West Bloomfield schools. Later on, some
other individuals wanted to move out of Pontiac schools to boost
their property value, Seay added.
Pontiac school officials maintain that parents of pupils in
Rogers Elementary School - the only school in the district in
Auburn Hills - appear to be pleased with its progress.
Meanwhile, officials from the Avondale School District in Auburn
Hills have not dealt with similar complaints about Pontiac
schools.
"It has not been a topic of the Board of Education or citizens
at school board meetings," said Sue DesJardins, director of
community relations for Avondale schools. "There has been no one
officially that has made it known they are working (to leave the
Pontiac school district).
"We've had inquiries over the years from people that have moved
in the school district and realized that Auburn Hills is served
by a number of school districts, but nothing formal in any way.
It's a non-issue here as far as I know."
Schools of choice
There are at least 82 Sylvan Lake students going to West
Bloomfield schools. About half of those children live in the
Pontiac district, Wasko said.
Of the West Bloomfield district's 970 school-of-choice students,
42 live in Sylvan Lake, he added. There are at least four city
blocks of Sylvan Lake that are part of West Bloomfield schools.
The rest of Sylvan Lake is in the Pontiac school district.
Eleven students from the Sylvan Lake area attend Pontiac
schools, said Pontiac district spokesperson Joscelyn Andrews.
Many Sylvan Lake residents, as well as some in other areas, try
to get their children in the West Bloomfield School District,
which has been a school-of-choice district for the past seven
years, Wasko said.
Under school-of-choice legislation, districts are able to accept
children from other districts. Each year, Wasko said, the West
Bloomfield district has more applications than spaces available,
so it holds a lottery.
"I literally have had to pull cards out of a box with names on
them," he said. "This past year, we had about 300 new seats and
we had twice as many applications."
Even some West Bloomfield residents have to try getting students
into the district's schools through the school-of-choice program
since they, too, fall under the Pontiac school district.
"In some ways, it is fair, because that is where their taxes
go," Wasko said. "The school district lines don't match modern
geography. The boundaries just don't make any sense today."
Bond proposal
Taub's proposal, as attention grabbing as it is, has been even
more popular in the wake of a recently failed bond referendum by
the Pontiac school district, which serves about 10,790 children.
Pontiac school officials recently sought an Oakland County
record $455.4 million from taxpayers that would have allowed for
a major overhaul of the district's infrastructure and helped
change how instruction is delivered. Plans were to renovate and
rebuild Pontiac schools. And that would have helped the district
adapt to a new curriculum, while giving students
state-of-the-art facilities that are the norm in some
neighboring districts, school officials said.
All voters in Pontiac and some from portions of seven
neighboring communities that make up the school district - the
cities of Auburn Hills, Lake Angelus, Sylvan Lake and townships
of Orion, Bloomfield, Waterford and West Bloomfield - were
encouraged to vote for what many deemed an exorbitant amount of
money.
However, the Sept. 23 referendum failed by nearly a 2 to 1 vote,
5,846 to 2,954.
Surprisingly, the referendum might have passed if it were
limited to voters residing in the city of Pontiac. City
residents voted 2,501 to 2,454 in favor of the proposal.
Excluding 660 votes from one precinct where ballots could not be
distinguished between voters in Pontiac, Waterford Township and
Lake Angelus, and more than 1,800 districtwide absentee ballots
that have not been sorted by community, taxpayers in neighboring
communities voted down the proposal 1,252 to 112.
Taxpayers had various reasons for voting down the measure. Some
felt the amount was too high. Others wanted to see more student
achievement first. Another group said it felt paying additional
taxes to the Pontiac school district was not its responsibility.
"There are about 800 homes in Sylvan Lake, and I can count on
one of my hands how many kids go to Pontiac schools," said one
Sylvan Lake voter who asked not to be identified. "Why should we
pay additional taxes if we hardly have any kids going to school
there?"
Sylvan Lake has about 850 homes and 2,000 residents, said Mayor
Bob Dzenko, who also voted against the referendum.
"People here weren't convinced they could handle that kind of
cash," he said. "Plus, they said it would cost $108 a year for
someone with a home valued at $80,000. There aren't any $80,000
homes here, so it didn't relate."
School officials in Pontiac said they would have been held
accountable by the state for following through with plans based
on the large sum of money. Also, the district recently received
its 16th consecutive Certificate of Excellence in Financial
Reporting from the Association of School Business Officials
International. That, in itself, is a testament to the district's
fiscal prudence, Mason said.
What's next?
Taub's legislation has yet to be heard by the House Education
Committee, but one thing is clear: Communities hoping to
transfer from one district to another will have to wait.
The issue puts Pontiac school officials in a bind.
On one hand, losing the portion of Sylvan Lake that resides
within Pontiac schools could help the district pass a
much-needed bond referendum. On the other hand, losing the
Sylvan Lake tax base would further strap Pontiac schools
financially.
District voters who reside outside Pontiac city limits might be
asked to approve yet another school bond proposal sometime next
year, albeit for less money.
Officials say there still are poorly-functioning boilers that
cause students to have to wear coats in class during the winter,
leaky roofs and other problems with aging facilities.
If Taub's bill becomes law, Seay said, other things need to be
considered.
"If they are going to do something like that, they need to
revamp funding across the board, where all school districts
receive the same amount of money per student," he added.
Currently, the Holly and Brandon school districts receive the
lowest amount of state funding per pupil in Oakland County. Each
gets $6,700 per student, while Bloomfield Hills receives $11,955
annually per pupil, the most in the county. The difference is
$5,255 per student.
"Whatever decision they make, they need to take a look at the
long-term effects of it," Seay said. "They already have schools
of choice. Are they going to have districts of choice? I think
that is going too far."
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