Scot Graden's Blog

I am big fan on Daniel Pink. This year, I gave each of our new certified staff a copy of his book  A Whole New Mind. A copy of the book was first given to me by one of our High School faculty, Ms. Cyndi Koppelman. He has a new book out called Drive. I have not had a chance to read it yet, but I saw this quick promo video that made me think.

What is my sentence?  Do organizations have “a sentence” and if so, what is Saline Area Schools’ sentence?

What is your sentence?

Last week I read an interesting fact about the State of Michigan.

Michigan leads the nation in the percentage of adult population that earned a high school diploma and attended college but obtained no degree.

I also learned that the difference between “some college” and a Bachelors degree with regard to lifetime earnings is significant.  The difference between a high school diploma and “some college” is minimal.

Is improving the quality of our workforce and the Michigan economy as simple as making sure a higher percentage of the students that enter college actually finish with a degree?  Why don’t they finish?  Is the cost too high or are they not “college ready”?

On Thursday, the Board of Education and I toured Harvest Elementary and the High School to witness some of the programs that make Saline Area Schools great.  One of the classes we visited was the “seniors only” flexible-schedule English class where the students attend class two days a week.  The other three days they are involved in community service projects around Saline.  They are making valuable contributions at places like Brecon Village, Human Society, and the Red Cross. It was interesting to hear the students share the impact of not being in class and “accountable” to a teacher on a daily basis.  Many were working through their own learning about how to manage the newfound flexibility.  Several noted this provided them with a new perspective on how they need to manage their time, especially as they prepare for college.

I feel we not only need to prepare our students for the rigors of college, but also for the structure of the learning environment.  This style of course provides a relevant experience for our college bound students. We must make sure Saline students have the skills not only to get into college, but also to obtain a degree.

One of the issues facing Saline Area Schools is declining enrollment.  It sounds odd to say due to the fact that the number of school-aged children in our district exploded from 3,100 students in the 1991 to 5,150 in 2001.  That growth over 10 years shaped the structure and culture of our school system.  During this era we purchased land, built buildings, added staff, expanded existing facilities – all to accommodate our newfound size.  Our peer group changed both athletically and academically.  No longer did we compare ourselves to Dexter, Chelsea, Tecumseh, etc. we looked at Ann Arbor, Brighton and Novi.

Well, that era is over.  We have about the same number of students enrolled today (5,450) as we did in 2005 (5,425).  Our largest 4 grade levels are all at the High School.  We have 475 students in 12th grade and 385 students in Kindergarten.  If all current K-11 students remain enrolled and we enroll another 385 next year in kindergarten we will be 90 students smaller next year.  That is over $650,000 in reduced foundation payments from the State.

In the 1990’s, being a declining enrollment district had a stigma.  It implied that a community was not healthy enough to generate children during relatively prosperous time in the history of our State.  The stigma too is gone.  Last year, 80% or the districts in Michigan declined in enrollment.  From 2000-2008, only 3 counties in Michigan gained students – Benzie, Macomb and Washtenaw – and the growth in Washtenaw was well short of the growth our county enjoyed in the 90’s.

SEMCOG predicts that while the population of Washtenaw County will stabilize over the next several years, it will be an older population.  This population will produce fewer children, needing fewer schools, fewer teachers, fewer support staff, fewer principals and likely fewer superintendents.  The State of Michigan, and the Midwest in general is dealing with flat to declining population.

Is this a bad thing?  To a degree it is, dealing with a system that ties revenues to enrollment means fewer resources.  This is amplified by the other reductions in funding.  Our system is now built for 5,500-7,000 students, so affording the current structure of the district is problematic.

Are there good things?  Sure, managing fewer students and staff allows us to create a stronger sense of family and community.  We can also gain some operational efficiency by maximizing the use of our active facilities.

In the end, it doesn’t matter if it is a good thing or a bad thing.  The future will be what we make it, regardless of how many students we have enrolled each year.

The past week has been an interesting one for Saline Area Schools.  There has been a great deal of discussion around the issue of “online math” at Saline High School.  It prompted this statement from us on Tuesday morning.

We are continuing to work through a challenging budget reduction process. Recently, there has been information shared with some staff members about possible mid-year reductions. It appears information discussed internally regarding “worst case scenario” options is now being shared as having already been decided.  One of the scenarios was related specifically to high school math and the possible use of online instruction.  It is important to understand that no formal recommendations have been made to the Saline Board of Education regarding this option.

One of the hallmarks of Saline Area Schools is the ability to work with our community to focus on student learning, as well as financial stability. At no time in recent memory have the financial challenges been this significant.

On a positive note, on January 4th, 2010, Governor Granholm issued a public statement about her intent to rescind the additional $127 per pupil proration.  While this does not impact the current $165 per pupil reduction and the uncertainty of the 2010/11 budget, it is certainly good news for the students, staff, and community of Saline Area Schools.

On Thursday, I held an all staff meeting to discuss the current budget issues, the process being used to determine what staff cuts might be necessary, and to answers questions.  There were questions……

Many centered around a “letter of intent” that I issued to our teachers’ union – the Saline Education Association – in December.  This provided notice of intent to, “transfer of work of the nature and kind customarily performed by members of the Association’s Bargaining Unit to any other employer pursuant to Article I, Section D, Subsection 2a.”

This letter was provided to keep all options open as we work through the budget reduction process.  Does it appear serious?  Yes.  These are sobering times; however, I have notified the Board of Education and informed the staff at a district-wide staff meeting on January 7th that we will not be making recommendations related to the letter at this time.

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Superintendent Dr. William Skilling from Oxford Community Schools in Oakland County.  He is an interesting and passionate educator.  The one comment he made that really hit me was the statement that the current economic crisis is the “greatest thing to happen to public education in Michigan – maybe ever.”  Most of us in the crowd were taken back by this bold statement.  His premise is that families are now more focused on the need for strong schools to provide the best opportunity for their children as we enter a global economy.

While, I am not sure I can fully agree with his statement – I understand his thought process.  I see that families, more than ever,  are depending on us to provide the best chance for their child.  This requires us to stay focused on the continued pursuit of excellence.  Fostering an organizational culture of high expectations for all students that is pervasive throughout Saline Area Schools requires the commitment of staff, parents and community.  It also requires strong leadership.  It is my goal for 2010 to provide that leadership.

As we end the first decade of the 21st century, I have been thinking back to what Saline Area Schools was in January, 2000.  We had 4,980 students enrolled in the fall, up 173 from the previous year. (We now have 5,450.) This marked our 9th consecutive year of 100+ more students enrolled, with a few years enrolling over 200+.  There was talk of the need for a new high school and elementary building.  The Community Wide Planning Committee was reviewing options for a possible “recreation millage” to support the quality of life in the district.  In May, 2000, both the bond issue for a new high school & elementary building, along with the CARES millage received voter approval.

Instructionally we were focused on implementing the new “block schedule” at the high school.

It was an entirely different era for Saline Area Schools – marked by frantic growth and the need for upgraded and expanded infrastructure. From the budget side, the growth was good – we hired 19 new teachers for the 1999/2000 school year, with another 21 to be hired for 2000/2001.  We had bond funds from “Project ‘97” able to support our buildings, technology and transportation needs.

In the 10 years since we have had 5 different superintendents, 3 different high school principals, 3 different middle school principals…. no administrative staff member is in the same position they were in in 2000.  Only a small percentage of teaching staff are still in the same classroom or teaching the same subject or grade level. The challenges of growth are long gone, replaced with the challenges of scaling down our organization.  Instructionally, we are in the 2nd year of the trimester at the high school.  At the elementary level we are looking to – with scarce resources – provide all day, every day kindergarten in the near future

It is interesting to look back…. and then to envision January, 2020.
What will Saline Area Schools be in 10 years?