Anchor Bay Board Discusses School Merger

More than 100 concerned parents and staff braved the Wednesday night thunderstorms for an Anchor Bay Schools Board of Education meeting about merging elementary schools.

The board discussed the controversial plan to merge Maconce and Macdonald Elementary schools during the session at the latter school. The school district is planning on shifting the functions of both the buildings in order to accommodate for a projected $4.5-million slash in statewide education funds and an approximate $3-million budget shortfall.

Proposed Changes Include School Merger

Under the proposal, Macdonald in Casco would become an early childhood center and the students who formerly attended Macdonald as an elementary school would then join students at Maconce in Ira. Summer school for both schools will continue as normal for this summer.

"We wanted to get the community together and look at this plan that we have," said Board of Education President Steve Mittlestadt. 

Because both schools are designed the same and built within two years of each other, the board hopes the transitions will be smooth. Maconce's proposed school hours would be 8:36 a.m. to 3:32 p.m., eliminating split-level classes, and Macdonald's current principal Sherri Milton-Hoffman would serve as the school's new principal.

Macdonald would have tuition programs for Blossoming 4s and Early Childhood Developmentally Delayed, and would result in Anchor Bay having two early childhood centers in different sections of the district. The existing is on Washington St. in New Baltimore.

District Funding Lowest in Macomb

"This is the most difficult financial challenge I've ever had to work with," said Kyle Anderson, business director for the school district for the past 11 years.

Anderson started the meeting off by examining how Anchor Bay has trimmed its budget by cutting back on administrative costs while not touching the funding to instructional and classroom budgets.

"As the lowest-funded district in Macomb, we have to go about with a tight belt," said Anderson. 

Because of 1994's Proposal A, Anchor Bay only receives on average $7,316 for each one of its nearly 6,400 pupils, in part because of the area's lower population 16 years ago. The proposal changed the laws of school funding, resulting in 80 percent of all funds coming from the state of Michigan.

Anderson explained the various cuts Anchor Bay has made over the years, including spending $530 per students on buses compared with the Macomb County average of $1,372, and a four-year-long energy conservation plan that has removed $800,000 in expenses.

The total budget cuts from the administrative end of the district over the last 10 years equals out to $73,689,576.

"We have an obligation to balance our budget," said Mittlestadt. "A lot of our administrators have taken on another job around here."

The 2010-11 increase in teacher retirement caused a $470 drop per pupil, and the recently signed state budget cuts will mean Anchor Bay will lose another $3.8 to $4.5 million dollars, district officials said.

Despite large cuts to the administrative end, instructional funding has not been touched and Anchor Bay placed highest in unweighted fall 2010 Michigan Educational Assessment Program scores for Macomb County, averaging a 86 percent passing rate.

"At the end of the day, we're looking to minimize the cuts and impacts to the classroom and students," said Mittlestadt.

Merger Is Tough Decision

The school districts plan to merge the two schools was not an easy one.

"What we've tried to do in the last two weeks normally takes two years to sort out," said Anchor Bay Superintendent Leonard Woodside. The state approved the budget cuts two weeks ago, and the board agreed not to make any decisions until they knew if the cuts would come into succession.

"It's just a piece of the $8 million we have to accomplish this year," said Mittlestadt.

Because of union contracts, the district won't know how many teachers it may need to lay off until the they finalize the budget at their next meeting, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at the Middle School North Library. They legally have to have a budget planned by July 1.

"We're at the mercy of the state and legislature. This is what we got, and we have to deal with it," said board member Janine Accivatti-Hendershot. 

Concerns About Merger

Many parents spoke at the meeting about the idea. 

For some, the issue of class size was their top concern. Under teacher contract, class sizes cannot exceed 35 students, but the district aims to keep it at 28 per class.

"The school board and Mr. Woodside have worked hard to maintain a 28-student-size max," said Milton-Hoffman. Maconce, after the merger, would feature at least two classes for each grade, and in some cases three.

Other parents were concerned about which teachers were going to transfer from Macdonald and which ones would be replaced at Maconce. Until the union contracts are looked at for the budget, the district officials said they won't know.

"It's frustrating when you have the highest stats in the county and you have to talk to teachers about layoffs," said Woodside. "We're struggling and trying to minimize the damage the best we can."

Coming Together As One School

Milton-Hoffman, who will become principal of the post-merger Maconce, is already setting up and planning things to help students and parents with the school shuffle.

"We're going to take all the pride from Macdonald and all the pride from Maconce and combine them," said Milton-Hoffman. 

She praised the work of the volunteers of both schools and explained how they all will be needed. She plans on having open monthly meetings with her and key volunteers, and is organizing a back-to-school fair for students to explore and tour the school while meeting with the staff.

"It's a great opportunity for two buildings to come together and help each other out," said Milton-Hoffman.

Sugarbush Elementary Principal Marie Dewitte said, "The hand we've been dealt could be devastating, but all of this effort from the board has been done to keep us a thriving district.

"This district, in my 11 years, have made a strong commitment to students and instruction in the class."

The next school board meeting will be 7:30 p.m., June 29, at in the library.