Northville to Consider Opening Half-Day Kindergarten Class to Other Wayne County Schools

- From a Northville school board press release

The Northville Board of Education will hear public comment Tuesday, June 12, 2012 on a proposal to offer limited open enrollment to students residing in other Wayne County school districts in the one section of half-day kindergarten the district will offer for the 2012-13 school year at Thornton Creek Elementary School. The Schools of Choice option would be under Section 105 of the State School Aid Act, which allows districts to enroll non-resident students who reside in other local school districts in the same intermediate school district.

The public hearing will take place in conjunction with the June 12 regular Board of Education meeting at 7:30 p.m. at , 21200 Taft Road. The Board is expected to act on the limited open enrollment proposal for the half-day kindergarten program at its June 26, 2012 meeting.

The impetus for considering this limited open enrollment option is two-fold. First, after enrolling the students of those families in the Northville school district interested in the half-day kindergarten program, space for a limited number (likely no more than four) additional students from other Wayne County school districts exists, while still keeping the class size in the half-day section within the desired 20-25 students.

Second, offering this targeted open enrollment opportunity will enable the district to qualify for $52 per pupil (about $364,000) from the state for the 2012-13 school year by meeting seven of the eight best practices as outlined in the State School Aid bill recently approved by the Michigan legislature and expected to be signed into law by the Governor any day. In a last minute change made on Friday, June 1st, the legislature revised the “best practice” incentive language to require seven, rather than six, of the best practices to qualify for the funding, which was also reduced from $75 per pupil as the School Aid package moved through the legislature.

"We are pleased to continue to offer a half-day kindergarten option for the 2012-13 school year for those Northville school district families who value a half-day program for their students," said Northville Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher. "If approved by the Board, the opportunity for a limited number of students from outside the school district to open enroll in our half-day kindergarten section helps to meet the threshold necessary to offer a half-day kindergarten option, while also enabling the district to recoup a portion of already-budgeted best practice funding that benefits all of our students and families."

Under the Michigan School Aid Act, schools choosing to offer limited open enrollment must provide notice of the number of open enrollment slots, including grade level, program and school, and allow families from outside the district at least two weeks and no more than 30-days to indicate their interest. If approved by the Board at its June 26, 2012 meeting, the process and deadlines for out-of-district enrollment will be posted on the district’s website. Under the state guidelines for Schools of Choice, students are selected for the open enrollment slots through a random drawing. Once a student open enrolls in a school district, that district is responsible for the remainder of that student's K-12 education, as long as the family chooses to continue to open enroll the student. The half-day kindergarten program enrolls students across the district. Placement of any out-of-district students for subsequent years will be determined by available space across the district – not necessarily at .

Earlier this year, the Northville Board of Education made the decision to offer a full-day kindergarten program at all six of the district's elementary schools. At that same time, the Board also committed to continuing to offer a half-day kindergarten option — despite a significant reduction in the state per-pupil funding allocation for half-day kindergarten programs — provided there was sufficient interest among the families of incoming kindergarteners.

Following the district's kindergarten enrollment period in April and early-May, in which incoming kindergarten families indicated their preference for a full- or half-day program for their students, it was determined that sufficient interest existed for one section of half-day kindergarten at Thornton Creek. In addition to those Thornton Creek families interested in the half-day program, families from the district's five other elementary schools were also offered the opportunity to enroll their incoming kindergartners in the half-day program, with several families choosing to have their students attend the half-day program at Thornton Creek.

In addition to the half-day kindergarten open enrollment proposal, the Northville Board of Education will hear public comment on two other items during Tuesday’s public hearing:

Revisions to the district's Acceptable Use and Internet Safety Policy, including student, staff, board member, volunteer and non-student Acceptable Use Agreement forms. Drafts of policy and forms are available on the district website at http://www.northville.k12.mi.us/boe/board-policies.asp.

The proposed Northville Public Schools 2012-13 Budget. An overview of the proposed budget will precede the opportunity for public comment.