BAY MILLS - The Bay Mills Ojibwe Charter School (OCS) Board of Directors met on Monday, June 13, for a regularly scheduled board meeting. Board president Shelly Deuman was absent from the meeting.
OCS Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ralph Crosslin said that only 112 students were registered for school next year, with 14 students yet to reply to the forms issued by the school and 12 students saying they would not be back. Crosslin said he feels that the high administrative turnover rate, as well as the fact that some parents feel there are problems with discipline at the school, are the main factors in the decline in enrollment. Board member Anne Belleau added that many parents said they would not enroll their children at the school if their child did not have a bus to ride.
Crosslin said that as far as staff is concerned, exact numbers would be contingent on enrollment. He said he sent out letters to all the teachers at OCS inviting them back next year, and all but one have replied. One high school teacher informed him he was leaving for sure, he said. The school does need additional high school staffing, but as to whether or not classes will be combined he said that he could not make an accurate decision until he has an exact figure on enrollment.
Mosaica's Jennifer Parrish presented the board with her Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) analysis. She said that only students who were at OCS during two count days were counted as being there for one full academic year. Those who were not at school for the two count days were not included, she added. Eighty-two percent of the fourth graders passed their English Language Arts (ELA) test and 72 percent passed their math. The disadvantage of adding and dropping students is that many students who may have scored well on the test aren't counted, she said. Small numbers and only two years of data have hurt the percentages because not many students counted towards the scores. She said that the state now has a margin of error formula, stating that in order to be proficient a student has to be at least a level two, or score 530 on the MEAP. Technically, if a student scores 529 they are not proficient, so the new margin of error says that if a student is within a certain amount of points, they will assume they passed.
Mosaica Regional Vice President Rita Chapin said that OCS has already applied for three different grants - the formula grant, grant to reduce alcohol abuse, and a small rural school achievement grant. Chapin said she is also looking at an Impact Aid Emergency Construction grant, which talks about emergency or health and safety issues for construction. She said she recommends the board look at the ramp and playground for a more secure playing surface.
A concerned mother expressed her concerns about fire safety. She said her son, who has cerebral palsy, has to be pushed out of the building, down steps, and across sand in a wheel chair during fire drills. Crosslin assured the concerned parent he was going to look into the issue further and make it right. He added that he had conducted only one fire drill since his arrival and noted that it does need some work.
Chapin said that she had made a request for the purchase of a 72- or 77-passenger bus for the school. She said an ad needed to be put in the paper to bid. She also had a purchase request for facilities expansion. She said she met with Mosaica's manager of purchasing in New York for a 3,500 square foot structure, with three 840 square foot rooms, designed with the Michigan School Building Code. She said she asked for financing, but given the uncertainty of enrollment added that leasing a modular might keep the cost down for one to three years.
Chapin said that it is sobering to see how the school's surplus will disappear over three years. If enrollment is lower than the current 124 students next year, we need to ask ourselves if it is time to build a $200,000 expansion, or is it wiser to build a storage unit and take the current storage room and make it into a classroom, she said. She recommended that the board get a better sense of enrollment before they decide on expansion.
Board member Terry Carrick presented Attorney Mark Dobias to the board. Carrick said that Dobias had a copy of the management contract and the school's charter with Mosaica. He recommended the board keep him in mind if they need legal services. Dobias said in his 22 years practicing law, he has had some school law experience and added that he practices in Bay Mills, and is familiar with tribal and federal law.
Two teachers and a faculty member approached the board on the issue of combined classes, arguing that it is hurting the enrollment. They said that if classes were split, more students would come. Chapin said that she could not decide if classes were to be split, or combined, until they knew how many students would be enrolled next year.
