Brandon Twp.- The school board will vote on $1.6 million in proposed cuts to the district during a meeting set for 6:30 p.m., March 16 at the I-TEC Center, 609 S. Ortonville Road.
The cuts, which the board reviewed during a special study session March 2 led by Superintendent Matt Outlaw, include 15 full-time teaching positions, closure of the Belle Ann school building as well as the alternative high school program, consolidation of bus routes, reduction of parapro hours, elimination of the aquatic center director position, consolidation of a central office clerical position and grant funding only of literacy coaches.
‘We are doing these cuts for a variety of reasons,? Outlaw began. ‘This is a path to move the district forward.?
Since joining the district in July, Outlaw has spoken repeatedly of the need to ‘right-size? the district due to enrollment that has been declining at an alarming rate since 2006, with a loss of about 850 students. The proposed reduction to teaching staff will occur mostly at the high school, middle school, and alternative high school.
The cuts will be ‘market-driven,? Outlaw said, meaning that decisions will be made based on classes students select.
In response to concern about class sizes, Outlaw noted that by contract with the BEA, the maximum number of students per high school class is 35; at the middle school and intermediate schools, 31; for first through third grades, 28 students per class is allowed; and the maximum number of kindergarteners for one teacher is 27.
‘Class sizes will be lower than that, this is just by contract maximum,? he said. ‘On average, our kindergarten classes have 20 or 21 students.?
The reduction of teachers is expected to yield savings of $975,000.
The next largest financial savings on the list, an estimated $234,621, will result from consolidation of bus routes and the reduction of six buses in the district’s fleet.
Concerns regarding this measure centered around the length of bus routes, but Outlaw expects to see a reduction in time that students spend on buses with consolidation of bus stops.
‘I feel good about this one, the kids will get to school sooner,? he said.
Also yielding sizable savings are the elimination of the alternative education program, $217,183, as well as the complete closure of the Belle Ann building, $106,932.
The school board approved a reconfiguration of buildings in the district in December 2012 that resulted in moving all elementary students from Belle Ann and housing kindergarten through third grades at both Oakwood and Harvey Swanson elementaries, and having all fourth grade students join fifth and sixth graders at Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School. Belle Ann received the alternative education students, and the H.T. Burt building was to close. The changes were to yield an estimated $200,000 annually as well as long-term savings in capital improvements to both Burt ($643,494 over 5 years) and Belle Ann ($111,415). However, H.T. Burt has remained partially open, housing the Brandon Academy of Arts and Science.
With the closure of Belle Ann, the Post-High (to be renamed Adult Transitions) will move to H.T. Burt, which Outlaw said has plenty of classrooms to accommodate the special education program, which assists young adults with employment skills and becoming independent.
Meanwhile, the alternative education program will be eliminated entirely and the ‘Brandon Success Program? is being created to help students formerly in the alternative high school recover credits and prevent other students from becoming credit deficient, a primary reason for the alternative high. Students who have trouble adapting to the traditional high school environment will receive extra assistance in making the transition, Outlaw said.
That plan is not yet complete, nor is a plan for what will happen to the Belle Ann building. Outlaw said he is speaking with a real estate agent regarding the potential of the facility as a senior citizen complex.
‘We have to be careful because of charter schools,? Outlaw said. ‘We have a year before state rules change.?
The district previously had a charter school approach them about purchasing the vacant Sherman Lifelong Learning Center. District officials declined to sell the building, saying it was not fit for children due to deterioration and asbestos. The district subsequently had the building demolished.
In addition to the proposed cuts, Outlaw also presented proposed investments at the study session, including an enhanced preschool academy that will offer more options and provide the lowest cost preschool in the area, at zero cost to the district, as well as a one-to-one technology program that would put devices in the hands of all first through third grade students in the district and the purchase of introductory tech devices for kindergarten group work, at an estimated cost of $100,000.
The board also plans to approve at the March 16 meeting a pay increase for substitute teachers from the current $78 per day to $89 per day in order to attract more substitutes to the district. So far this year, 105 assignments have gone unfilled, compared to 70 last year.
‘Statewide, there is a lack of substitute teachers,? said Carol Heymoss, a contracted HR specialist for the district. ‘People are not choosing this as a career.?