| Newspapers; 3/7/06 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 7 2006, 11:08 AM (338 Views) | |
| NFarquharson | Mar 7 2006, 11:08 AM Post #1 |
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From the Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...EWS02/603070401 Wayne County Scrap prompts Westwood schools to crack down on fighting March 7, 2006 BY NAOMI R. PATTON FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER In the future, Westwood Community School District students may think twice before starting a fight. District officials sent letters to parents Monday, reminding them of its zero-tolerance policy after an after-school fight among 13 students Thursday at Hamilton J. Robichaud High School/Junior High School in Dearborn Heights. Although the fighting took place at Robichaud, the district sent letters to parents attending all five Westwood schools. Under the policy, students are given an immediate 10-day suspension for the first fighting offense and an immediate expulsion for the second offense. Ron Tarrant, Westwood assistant superintendent, said the letter tells parents and students to seek adult assistance to resolve a conflict, to stay away from any fights in progress, to leave the school immediately after dismissal unless involved in after-school activities, and to review the school's code of conduct, which includes penalties for fighting. Tarrant said the fight occurred on Penn Street, near the school at 3601 Janet St., and it was "dealt with quickly and very effectively" by school security officers and Dearborn Heights police. Two of the students involved in the fight are eighth-graders; the rest are in high school. Three students were arrested on assault charges, principal Pamela Harris said. Six of the students involved live outside the district but attend Robichaud through the Schools of Choice program. Tarrant said they could be kicked out of the district because of their involvement in the fight. Contact NAOMI R. PATTON at 248-351-3689 or patton@freepress.com. __________________________ http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...EWS01/603070426 Detroit Laid-off officers to patrol at schools Hirings in response to Detroit violence March 7, 2006 Detroit Schools Superintendent William F. Coleman said the armed security would intimidate the harassers. Up to 48 laid-off Detroit police officers would be hired part-time to patrol the schools, under a plan approved Monday night by the Detroit Public Schools board. The officers will be paid up to $20 per hour for a maximum of 25 hours per week patrolling the schools. They would get 40 hours of advance training. The action comes in response to a rash of violence since the fall that includes three shootings on or near school grounds, 31 armed robberies and a knife attack. Superintendent William F. Coleman III said Monday night that an armed security force was needed "as a way to intimidate the bad people who have been harassing" teachers and students. Coleman said that he should know by today how much the officers are to be paid. Their starting date depends on the application process. The officers will work mostly in the mornings and afternoons, when school starts and lets out. And officials said they'll be placed in schools with a history of problems. The plan -- a collaboration between the school district and the Detroit Police Officers Association union -- was announced Thursday, after a teacher was robbed at gunpoint inside an elementary school. By Chastity Pratt |
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| NFarquharson | Mar 7 2006, 11:20 AM Post #2 |
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From the Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../603070325/1006 Velvet S. McNeil / The Detroit News Sixth-graders Allyson Dominquez, Ann Marie Rufini, Mikaela Warren and Kaitlynn Riley walk home from Cooper Elementary across the street from the old Cooper School site. Parents are raising concerns about the cleanup at the old Cooper site. Contamination worries surface as Livonia's school fight builds Parents ask if students who this fall will attend 'new' Cooper School near razed site will be safe. Catherine Jun / The Detroit News LIVONIA -- More than a decade ago, parents in gas masks picketed in front of the old Cooper School on Ann Arbor Trail over contamination found in the soil. The school, in Westland and part of the Livonia school district, was built over a landfill. The site has since been tested and the building came down. Medical offices and housing for seniors will likely be built on the cleaned-up land. But the old fear of contamination is rearing its head again, as parents, upset about a controversial plan to reorganize Livonia Public Schools, are asking whether the 900 students headed this fall to the "new" Cooper Elementary School, across the street from the old site, will be safe. Parents have filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the district's plan to close seven elementary schools and reorganizing some of the schools, including Cooper, into large fifth- and sixth- grade buildings. They are turning over testing data on the old Cooper school in advance of a Friday court hearing that could halt the reorganization, at least temporarily, while a judge considers a legal challenge to the plan. Fifteen years ago, soil sampling at the new Cooper Elementary -- then Whittier Junior High -- found no health hazards there. But the debate over district reorganization has heightened parents' concerns about their children and revived fears of the building's safety. "I would prefer to see some factual data that says that it is safe," said Loraine Campau, 43, whose daughter, a fourth-grader at Adams, is supposed to attend Cooper next year under the district's plan. Campau said she is not assuaged by the fact that there are more than 300 students at the school now. The district is now mounting a public relations effort to assure people like Campau that there is no need for concern. Within weeks, it will send letters to all the homes with students headed for Cooper to explain why the school is safe and to assure them that care will be used when disturbing soil for cleanup and construction at the old site. "There really is no basis to be apprehensive about what will occur there," said former Livonia Mayor Jack Kirksey, who has been leading the redevelopment project. He said that air quality testing at the site and in front of the Cooper building during last summer's demolition detected nothing hazardous. A private consulting group, monitored by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, will complete the latest environmental testing of the site this spring. Then remediation will begin, and construction will likely start in 2007, Kirksey said. The state will oversee every step of the process, he added. State grant money and a redevelopment loan totaling $2.38 million are funding the demolition and cleanup costs. The old Cooper School was built in the late 1960s on a landfill that was operated by the city of Detroit until the 1950s, when it was closed and topped with a layer of clay. The school closed in 1991 after soil tests found dangerous contaminants, including cadmium and mercury, buried under the property. The building was closed and some students were sent to a closed junior high school across the street. The school has since been renamed Cooper, while the original Cooper site remains fenced. Ruth Pianga, who has lived near the school for a decade, doesn't understand the latest fuss. She has believed for years that her three children attending the school were in no danger. "Sometimes, people act like we're sending our kids to that (former landfill) site," Pianga said. Several parents who oppose the reorganization, however, are asking the district to test the air inside Cooper School before sending an additional 600 students there this fall. Kirksey said soil sampling 15 years ago showed no need, but he will bring up the issue with Superintendent Randy Liepa. You can reach Catherine Jun at (734) 462-2204 or cjun@detnews.com. ________________________________ http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...26/1006/METRO01 Tuesday, March 07, 2006 Grosse Pointe board considers school foundation Supporters hope plan could generate money for capital improvements and school programs. Catherine Jun / The Detroit News GROSSE POINTE -- The school board is considering a plan to authorize a $750,000 loan to start an aggressive foundation that supporters hope could generate $3 million for the district over three years. The independent foundation would raise money for capital improvements and school programs. The board tabled discussion of the proposal last month, seeking answers to several questions, including who would sit on the foundation's board, how funding priorities would be determined, and how the school board could communicate what it saw as funding needs to the foundation. It is scheduled to resume talks at its 8 p.m. Monday meeting. "I don't think there's a question among any members of the board that we see an opportunity -- that the foundation will provide flexibility and funding for our district," said Jeffrey Broderick, president of the school board. "There was really a need for assurance that the school district's needs would be addressed," he added. Richner & Richner, LLC, a fundraising consulting firm in Ann Arbor, was hired in April by the district to investigate whether there was community support for a foundation, and what would be needed to start one. "They're currently raising a lot already," said Cedric Richner, lead consultant on the project. But "the school district is interested in continuing the fundraising efforts at a higher level," he said. The district raises between $300,000 and $500,000 a year through parent-teacher organizations and athletic boosters. "What we're trying to do is what private schools have been doing for years," said Christian Fenton, assistant superintendent of business affairs. He is part of the Revenue Enhancement Transition Committee, a nine-member volunteer group that worked with the consulting firm to investigate starting a foundation. "Given the tightness of the budgets, this is a way to go," Fenton said. The 9,000-student district is anticipating a $3.5 million shortfall in the 2006-07 school year, and is expecting to dip into its rainy day fund, which has a balance of more than $10 million, said Superintendent C. Suzanne Klein. You can reach Catherine Jun at (734) 462-2204 or cjun@detnews.com. __________________________ http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../603070405/1026 Tuesday, March 07, 2006 Detroit schools to add police District will spend $500,000 to hire up to 50 laid-off city officers to patrol part time. Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News DETROIT -- School board members cleared the way Monday night for the district to spend up to $500,000 hiring laid-off cops to patrol city schools. It's the latest attempt to stem growing violence in the district, which since August has seen at least four shootings in or near schools, stabbings of two students and about 30 robberies of staff members. The Detroit Board of Education voted 10 to 1 to hire up to 50 laid-off Detroit Police Officers to patrol schools part time during key hours, such as early morning and dismissal. A final number of officers won't be determined until administrators negotiate a pay rate, which could be up to $20 an hour, board members said. "Our children deserve to be protected," said board Vice President Joyce Hayes-Giles, before the vote. Parents, such as Nikema Respress, welcome the decision. She has two sons at Ruddiman Middle School and said more security is desperately needed in Detroit schools. She was shocked to see how unsafe the environment was at Finney High School recently, where her nephews attend. Students were wearing their coats to class because there were so many locker break-ins, she said. "I felt threatened in the building," Respress said. "I wanted to leave." The district has about 340 security staff and another 40 police officers. The laid-off police officers would go through training to acclimate them to schools. Sharon Kelso, a school activist, told the board she wants to make sure the officers respect the students. "These kids do have rights and they shouldn't be violated," Kelso said. Board members still haven't formally considered a plan from Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans to take over management of the district's security. The Detroit Federation of Teachers supports Evans' proposal. You can reach Christine MacDonald at (313) 222-2269 or cmacdonald@detnews.com. _________________________________ http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../603070313/1008 Tuesday, March 07, 2006 Throw Livonia school lawsuit out of court Group wants judge to trump 6-1 vote by elected school board should throw out complaints by Livonia parents upset over school reform. The critics want the court to overturn actions by an elected school board acting well within its authority to balance budgets and reallocate resources. The central dispute -- whether to adopt reforms -- is political and should be judged at the ballot box, not by judicial decree. The lawsuit, filed by the Citizens for Livonia's Future, rests on thin reeds. Critics claim the school board made its decision without proper factual basis and analysis -- a shaky notion given all the attention board members and the public gave the matter before the vote. The complaint questions whether meetings of the board's Demographics Committee were legal. But that's a smokescreen to obscure the larger issue -- that elected officials adopted a solid plan to adjust for dwindling enrollment. The lawsuit alleges the proposed reforms would not save much money and would "destroy the current model of neighborhood schools." That's politics, not a legal argument. The board is not obligated to follow precedent, or else Livonia students would still attend one-room schools. The Livonia plan rethinks elementary school by creating two tiers. Lower elementary school will include kindergarten through grade four. Upper elementary will be fifth and sixth grades. The reconfiguring includes closing seven schools and moving some students, which upsets many who support the lawsuit. However, the deal saves money and is a beacon of innovation in a sea of inaction elsewhere around the state. School officials did exactly what they are elected to do -- lead the community to prepare for an uncertain economic future. They showed political courage and made tough-but-necessary calls. For those who disagree, take the matter up at the next election, not in court. _______________________________________ http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../603070314/1008 Tuesday, March 07, 2006 Michigan schools must change or perish Tom Watkins / Read Watkins' report "The New Education Revolution." The late 1970s were a dark time for the U.S. auto industry as foreign companies were producing higher-quality cars at a lower price. American factories were being shut down and workers were being laid off. Families were fleeing the state. Fast forward a quarter of a century and, as Yogi Berra said, it is "déjÀ vu" all over again. The initial response from the auto industry to competition was classic: denial, scape-goating, protectionism and, finally, acceptance of the problem and the development of appropriate strategic responses. The industry made changes and were more competitive in the late 1980s and '90s. Our public school system is at a similar crossroads and is winding through the classic response of denial, scape-goating and protectionism. Without vision, innovation and productive change, our public schools will perish. Public education must adapt by seeking ways to liberate educators and learners from the industrial model of the past. This model chains students to a six-hour school day that is confined to a classroom or school building, when learning is available anytime and any place. We need to ask if our laws, policies, procedures and practices support the knowledge age economy that our children are entering. Do they encourage and reward the digital revolution, boost technological innovation, enhance students' and workers' skills and promote agile entrepreneurship and lifelong learning? Can we afford multiple small school districts with duplicative administrative costs? Can we afford not to address the legacy costs of health care and pensions that will continue to absorb any new investment the Legislature and governor commit to our schools? The expectation of students and employers is that learning will be more relevant and real. What would a 21st century educational environment look like with imagination, innovation and creativity that incorporates 21st century technology? Imagine: All students having access to the best learning institutions in the world. State policy makers setting rigorous academic standards and providing strong accountability for success. Having our children, via the Internet and e-learning, learn about children of China, India and Russia and learn with them. We are living in a world where the undereducated and uneducated will be left behind. The global economy rewards brainpower; regardless of its source, origin or geographical location. The state and nation that adapts to change and invests in its people through a high-quality education will be the most prosperous. It must be our collective goal to make Michigan the state and America that nation. Our biggest fear should not be the outsourcing of jobs to China. Our greatest fear should be that the Chinese system of education is producing more scientists, engineers and mathematicians, technology and other knowledge workers than we are. As Yogi Berra said, "the future ain't what it used to be." The auto industry is again forced to change or perish. So too must our schools. Tom Watkins is a former Michigan superintendent of schools. E-mail: letters@detnews.com. |
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| NFarquharson | Mar 7 2006, 11:25 AM Post #3 |
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From the Troy Eccentric: http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...005/1039/NEWs22 Troy schools to slash staff Fifty-four positions will be dropped from the Troy School District for the 2006-07 year, due to a projected deficit of $8.4 million that school year. The cuts will be in five classifications, with custodian position taking the heaviest cut at 26. Other reductions are as follow: 15 teaching positions, 10 clerical positions, two skilled trades positions and one administrative position. Administrators met with leaders from the district’s three unions last week, and those who will be layed off have been notified. The staff cuts are among numerous budget adjustments, such as a one percent departmental reduction across the board, and revenue enhancements, including the sale of property. Details of the cost-cutting measures and new revenue sources will be presented to the board at its regular meeting, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the administrative services building, on Livernois north of Wattles. Originally published March 7, 2006 |
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| 2 kids | Mar 7 2006, 07:04 PM Post #4 |
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Observer on-line 3/7/06 http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...NEWS10/60307007 Article published Mar 7, 2006 School start times, busing brings on more debate By Stephanie Angelyn Casola Staff Writer Livonia Public Schools announced tentative school start times for the coming year, sparking a debate with some parents who fear the youngest students will barely make it home by dinnertime. “Elementary kids get out of school at 3:40,” said Diane Behrendt, a Taylor Elementary parent. “They’re (dropped off) at the bus stop at 4:20. It’s currently a 40-minute bus ride. My lower elementary child won’t be home before 5 p.m. next year.” She said the later schedule will impact family time in her household. Donna McDowell, coordinator of community and business partnerships for the district, said the District Transition Team aimed to maintain similar start and end times as they have this year. The biggest change involves staggered start times between the upper and lower elementary schools, which remain within 15 minutes of the current schedule. This year elementary start times range from 8:40 a.m. to 3:42 p.m. to 8:35 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. for Kindergarten through sixth grade. Beginning next year, lower elementary schools for grades K-4 will attend school from 8:55 a.m. to 3:57 p.m. Upper elementary schools with grades 5-6 will attend school from 8:35 a.m. to 3:37 p.m. McDowell said the DTT took into consideration parents’ requests to be able to drive their children to both upper and lower buildings, should they choose. Under the plan, Middle school hours would shift about 5 minutes later, from the current 8:05 a.m. to 2:53 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 2:48 p.m. And high school schedules should remain the same, operating from 7:25 a.m. to 2:19 p.m. Parents and school officials disagreed Monday night on the terms of this tentative schedule. The district refers to it as a three-tiered busing plan with staggered elementary pick up times. Parents, like Holly Burr, consider it to be the four-tiered system she dreaded would be put in place. Burr estimated if the buses depart school after 4 p.m., some students won’t be home until 5 p.m. – which will disrupt after-school activities. Trustee Joanne Morgan said the system is indeed three-tiered, and that tiers refer to the number of times a bus goes out to collect students. Because the district recently approved the purchased of 20 new buses and replacement of seven others, those vehicles will be used to complete the third run, transporting elementary students. “There is no fourth tier busing,” said Morgan. “If there has to be a reason to oppose this, that can’t continue to be one of the reasons.” School start times are not usually announced until summer, when the Livonia Education Association contracts are set and signed. But McDowell said the district released these approximate times early to allow parents more time to prepare for the coming school year. scasola@hometownlife.com | (734) 953-2054 |
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| livoniamom | Mar 7 2006, 07:20 PM Post #5 |
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Well, in a way the BOE is right. The anti-bussing crowd asked for staggered start/end times so they could drive their kids and they got what they asked for. There are only so many minutes in a day. I really wish Lower El and Upper El had the same times. |
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| Cindi | Mar 7 2006, 08:30 PM Post #6 |
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I wonder how much money Troy is spending in order to save $8.4 million? |
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| Cindi | Mar 7 2006, 08:36 PM Post #7 |
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The trouble is, most people live closer to the lower elementary school than the upper elementary schools. In order to get my child to Johnson I have to drive south 6 miles, back north 6 miles to drop the younger one off in the neighborhood school (and she might be late?) and back south again to head to work. Hope my employer understands that I will be late everyday:) Lucky for me, I can set my own schedule...unlucky for me in gas mileage. |
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