Latest news with #ChalkbeatDetroit
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican school safety bills move forward in Michigan House
The initials of the four students who were murdered at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021 are painted on a rock outside the school. The students who were killed were Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, and Justin Shilling. | Photo by Anna Gustafson This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit's free newsletter to keep up with the city's public school system and Michigan education policy. Amid a bipartisan push to improve school safety and students' mental health, Republican lawmakers have put forward a package of bills that aims to create a comprehensive 'school-community mental health system' and put additional crisis teams in schools. The bill package cleared a legislative hurdle on Wednesday when the House Education and Workforce Committee voted to move it forward. Last year, the legislature passed several bipartisan school safety bills that were introduced after a student shot and killed four students at Oxford High School in 2021. Those measures took lawmakers more than three years to approve, in part, because Democrats wanted to include gun reforms in proposed measures, and Republicans wanted to leave those measures out. A bipartisan House of Representatives school safety task force also researched the issues and interviewed school and public safety officials, community members, and survivors of school shootings, including Oxford, and their families. Democrats eventually altered their proposals to gain support from Republicans. Some of the newly introduced Republican bills touch on areas the original school safety task force agreed would be priorities: physical security, mental health, data processes, staff, and education. The bills do not address firearms and criminal justice, which were also among the original goals of the task force. Rep. Kelly Breen, a Democrat from Novi, said in a March 26 hearing for the bills she was 'alarmed' that the legwork the taskforce did and the input from school and public safety officials was not reflected in the new Republican bills. For example, Breen said the bills require hiring of hundreds of new mental health staff while schools already struggle to fill open positions. One of the bills that moved forward this week would require every intermediate school district — or regional agencies that work with the Michigan Department of Education and local school districts to develop programs and meet goals — in Michigan to hire a mental health coordinator to develop and implement the comprehensive system. It would integrate community or faith-based mental health services in public and private schools. Few details about how this would play out in schools were available. With state funds, the coordinator would also facilitate and deploy a behavioral health care technology platform for schools, as well as oversee and monitor Medicaid billing and the Caring 4 Students program, which partially reimburses school districts for mental health services for students who are eligible for Medicaid. The bill would also require each ISD to have at least one emergency and safety manager to serve as a liaison between state and local school and law enforcement entities. The manager would perform risk assessments, facilitate response training with schools, and implement prevention programs. It could cost an estimated $16.8 million in state funding for every ISD in the state to add the staff, according to a fiscal analysis of the bill. Schools would not have to meet the requirements if the state does not allocate the money to fund the positions, according to the bill. The House Education and Workforce Committee voted to move the bill forward during a meeting Wednesday. Republican state Reps. Nancy DeBoer, Rylee Linting, Joseph Fox, Tom Kunse, Joseph Pavlov, and Alicia St. Germain voted in favor of moving the bill to a vote in the full House. Democratic state Reps. Matt Koleszar and Regina Weiss voted against it. Democratic state Reps. Jimmie Wilson Jr. and Erin Byrnes abstained, as did Republican state Rep. Brad Paquette. Require every public school to establish its own crisis team by July 1, 2026. The team would be responsible for initiating lockdowns, helping evacuate students and staff, as well as reuniting families after a safety crisis. The teams would include the school's principal, vice principal, a school resource officer, and other school personnel. Private schools would have to establish an emergency operations plan. Change the requirement for public schools to review their emergency preparedness plans with local law enforcement from every two years to every three years. Private schools, which currently are not required to share their plans, would also have to adhere to the requirement. Local schools that don't currently have temporary locking systems – or systems that immediately lock doors as a barrier in active shooter situations – would have to install them. Increase the number of lockdown drills schools must complete each school year from three to four. At least one of the drills would have to take place during lunch, recess, or another time when students are gathered outside of classrooms. At least one would have to take place between class periods. Require public and private school identification cards to include contact information for the OK2SAY program, which facilitates anonymous tips on potential threats to school and student safety. An existing provision that schools are not legally liable when suicide prevention numbers are not included on student IDs would be extended to situations in which schools don't include OK2SAY information. Require the Michigan Department of Heath and Human Services to make materials related to suicide, depression, and anxiety available to private schools that request it. Public schools can already receive such materials. Require the Michigan State Police's Office of School Safety to compile quarterly reports on the OK2SAY tips it receives for the School Safety and Mental Health Commission. The bills will go forward for a full vote in the Republican-controlled House. In order to become law, they would also need to pass votes in the Democratically controlled Senate, and be signed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Earlier this year, Whitmer signed several other school safety bills into law. Among the measures, public schools now must have behavior threat assessment and management teams. Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@ Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thousands of Michigan children could lose free school meals under GOP plan, state officials say
Thousands of Michigan students rely on free school meals. A GOP proposal could put them at risk of losing them. (Anthony Lanzilote for Chalkbeat) This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit's free newsletter to keep up with the city's public school system and Michigan education policy. Thousands of Michigan children could lose free meals under proposed cuts by congressional Republicans that would make it more difficult for schools to provide universal free meals, according to state officials. GOP lawmakers want to change an existing federal program that makes subsidized meal programs more efficient and accessible by allowing schools in impoverished communities to qualify to offer free meals to all students, as opposed to independently verifying each student's family income. Currently, schools must show 25% of their students are enrolled in other aid programs like the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to qualify for community eligibility. House Republicans want to raise the requirement to 60% of students. Republicans say they want to make the change to ensure only the neediest students get free school meals. The cuts to the program were raised by the House Budget Committee Chair U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington last month. The proposals would save $12 billion over a decade, according to a list circulated by Arrington. An official federal budget has not been proposed yet. The nearly 600,000 Michigan students who currently qualify through the current federal community eligibility program could lose access to free school meals, according to the Michigan Department of Education. The actual number of students who would lose free school meals would likely be lower because some schools would still qualify for community eligibility under the proposed new guidance. Some students also qualify for other aid programs. Over the last few years, Michigan has provided free school meals to all students, allocating around $200 million in state funds annually to bridge the gap in federal programs. Proposed legislation to make universal free school meals permanent in the state failed to move forward. Overall, more than 850,000 Michigan children rely on free public school lunches and more than 474,000 eat breakfast in school. If the proposed federal cuts were to become law, many students in the state would be negatively impacted, officials from the MDE said Tuesday during a presentation to the State Board of Education. It could also lead to schools serving lower quality, less nutritious meals to students due to budget constraints. 'The health of our Michigan students is at risk,' said Diane Golzynski, deputy superintendent for business, health, and library services for the MDE, during the board meeting. Additionally, Republicans want to change federal regulations to allow local schools just 10 days after they receive a completed application to determine if a family is eligible for free or reduced meals. The law currently only requires schools to get income verification for 3% of the applications it receives. The proposed changes would make schools verify the incomes of all families who apply. 'Imagine how a district would be able to take on this monumental task in that very short, federally regulated time frame of 10 days,' said Deanne Kelleher, director of the MDE's Office of Health and Nutrition Services, during the board meeting. There is also concern families may not apply if they are asked to provide personal information every school year, given data security concerns, she added. Fewer families applying for free meals will negatively affect the amount of federal Title I and state at-risk funding schools receive, Kelleher said. Proposed plans would also end summer feeding programs, which provide food for students and families. In 2024, the programs helped feed 3.9 million Michigan households. 'This proposal could continue to contribute to the rise in food insecurity for households with children,' said Kelleher. One in six Michigan children face food insecurity, according to the nonprofit Feeding America. Dawn Pully, food service director for Bendle Public Schools, where 88% of students are from impoverished families, said during the meeting the only meals some children eat are provided by their schools. 'I don't even want to think about telling our students that they have to pay or that they can't eat because they owe money,' she said. Making the federal program more restrictive will have two major consequences, Pulley said. 'Parents, for sure, will not follow the correct steps to be approved, which will punish the student,' she said. School nutrition staff also will be forced to spend many more hours completing paperwork, taking away from time they spend focusing on creating healthy menu options for students. Universal free school meals can boost attendance, increase test scores, and decrease suspensions, research shows. Richard Browder, director of student nutrition for Brighton Public Schools, said during the meeting he's seen the positive impact universal free school meals programs have had on students. 'I've watched students who used to come in late now arrive early for breakfast every single morning,' he said. 'I've seen high schoolers who used to skip lunch because they didn't want to be singled out for free meals now eating with their peers with pride, because every student gets the same meal, no stigma attached.' Michigan students also were impacted by the abrupt cut of $30 million in grants to programs that helped schools buy food from local farms. Additionally, 118 truckloads of food were canceled for a federal food assistance program the MDE administers, said Golzynski. Tiffany Tilley, a member of the board, said during the meeting the cuts and the proposed changes to the federal meal program are 'an absolute travesty.' Board President Pamela Pugh said the cuts are 'cruel' and 'callous.' Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@ Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Why schools can't solve it alone': New book tackles chronic absenteeism
Eighth grader, Leona Wright, 13, holds her hand up high during a group exercise during Konnection Klub at Durfee Elementary-Middle School on Thurs., Oct. 19, 2023 in Detroit. The program is an example of how community groups are already trying to help improve student attendance in the city. (Elaine Cromie / Chalkbeat) This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit's free newsletter to keep up with the city's public school system and Michigan education policy. Researchers Sarah Winchell Lenhoff and Jeremy Singer have been studying chronic absenteeism in Detroit for years, talking to scores of parents, students, educators, and school administrators along the way, and keeping track of many school efforts to reduce absenteeism. One thing they've learned during that time is that no matter how much passion schools put into solving the chronic absenteeism problem, they may be fighting a losing battle. That's because while chronic absenteeism 'is a problem for schools,' it's not a problem that can be solved by schools. Their new book, 'Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism: Why Schools Can't Solve it Alone,' which was released Tuesday by Harvard Education Press, explains why and provides a road map for what they describe as an 'ecological' instead of an 'educational' approach to addressing chronic absenteeism. Why? Because poverty weighs heavily into the reasons students miss school, particularly in communities like Detroit where the overwhelming majority of students come from low-income homes. Chronic absenteeism has been a problem in Detroit for years and is also affecting school districts across Michigan. Statewide, nearly 30% of students were considered chronically absent, meaning they missed 10 or more days of school, during the 2023-24 school year, according to state data. In the Detroit Public Schools Community District, the rate was nearly 66%. Many charter schools in the city also have high rates of chronic absenteeism. The pandemic fueled a surge in chronic absenteeism, though rates have since decreased. The book has a number of recommendations for policymakers, school and district leaders, and community-based organizations and coalitions. 'I hope that folks outside of education pick up the book and think yes, there's a role for me in health, or for me in housing, for me in transportation, or for me as a lawmaker,' said Singer, an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Wayne State University. For policymakers, who have the power to legislate change, the authors recommend they substantially increasing efforts to reduce poverty, eliminate punishments for schools and students for chronic absenteeism, invest in systems to ensure students have the resources they need, and reduce the emphasis on chronic absenteeism within school accountability systems. Lenhoff said she hopes the book will shatter stereotypes people may have that children who are chronically absent aren't motivated to attend school and that their parents don't care. 'Detroit parents want their kids in school,' said Lenhoff, the Leonard Kaplan Endowed Professor and an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Wayne State. 'Many parents, even parents who have kids with really good attendance, are going to extremely great lengths to get their children to school, coordinating all kinds of different resources and backup transportation.' Lenhoff and Singer lead the Detroit Partnership for Education Equity & Research, or Detroit PEER, with Lenhoff as its director and Singer as its associate director. Chalkbeat talked with Lenhoff and Singer in a wide-ranging interview about chronic absenteeism. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Stay tuned for more later this week. Lenhoff: That's a big reason why we wrote this book was feeling a real need to have an intervention on the current discourse around chronic absenteeism and attendance in schools. In Michigan, and the majority of states around the country, chronic absence is counted against schools when they have many students who are missing lots of school. We have observed how that has seeped into the everyday practices of schools, such that lots of people are thinking about chronic absence, lots of people are trying to do something about it. They're spending a lot of time on things that may not have a lot of benefit for students, may not be able to improve attendance, which means that they're not spending time on other things that might be more within their scope of influence. The second big thing is we really wanted to expand the table of people and institutions who are thinking about student attendance as part of their scope of work. Primarily schools are like the only institutions where we look to solve this issue. Lots of other institutions are maybe even in a better position to solve some of the root causes that are keeping kids from school … things like housing instability, things like transportation inequity, health inequity, you know, a lot of these things are really far outside what schools can do, and so looking to other institutions to see what they can do to improve conditions for student attendance seems like a really important move. Lenhoff: It's all the more difficult in the current political climate where schools are likely to have less funding, not more. There's going to be a deemphasis on things like social welfare programs and affordable housing, and equitable transportation. Things we think can make a difference are in this current federal political climate going to be really challenging to pull off. What I would say now is that working closely with the nonprofit community, with the kind of local government agencies that you already have connections with that are maybe already trying to do things around youth programming or supportive work with families, and just trying to connect the dots with attendance. A lot of groups are already thinking about kids. They're thinking about families with kids — how to better support them, how to increase employment opportunities, increase extracurricular engagement. All these things, we think could have a positive effect on attendance, and they might require a little bit of coordination on the school side. Singer: If there are policymakers who are thinking, 'What could we do now, knowing that we have an important role to play,' it could make sense to even just try small block grants or pilot programs that can help schools try some creative things in partnership with community organizations or other state agencies. The same goes for philanthropy. Foundations might be able to play a role in just helping to pilot something that might be otherwise unattainable financially, like giving rideshare credits or experimenting with some new form of … transportation, or some kind of new health intervention or providing health services. If there's a way to try them at a smaller scale and start to identify promising models that we could then expand to other places that would be a great opportunity. Singer: We have a mayoral race coming up, and I'd love to see the next mayor of Detroit both acknowledge this as an issue but acknowledge the roots of this issue in the right way. We've heard Detroit Superintendent [Nikolai] Vitti speak to this issue in terms of identifying the root causes of poverty and inequality and the long history of that. Public figures can play a really great role in helping to set the tone for how we think about these problems. And so hearing the mayor speak to the fact that the city and departments within the city need to play a role in the solution — because the problem lies in things like transportation challenges, health problems, financial strain on families, housing issues —would be a really great place to start. Lenhoff: it's likely to be a priority for any new administration focused on economic and neighborhood development, right, and trying to increase the population of Detroit, or at least stabilize it, those conversations by and large, you know, to the extent that I'm aware of them, largely don't have have much to do about schools. Schools are not often at the table in those conversations about which neighborhoods we're going to invest in, where we're going to cite affordable housing, where we're going to invest in new commercial activity. if you're trying to make a walkable neighborhood, a school should be part of that calculus, that you should be able to walk to a local public school, and because it's an important resource. The affordable housing piece is essential. You know, investing in affordable housing that is big enough for families and that's near schools, right? I've heard folks talk about building affordable housing for families, and they're like, one-bedroom units. What does a family actually need to live in a home over the long term and stay there? Lenhoff: Some of the big ones have to do with the punitive approaches to student attendance. We've seen some move to deficit thinking about family … leads to this dynamic where the school is maybe not trying to build a trusting relationship with a family so that they can (learn) what barriers they face. The book shows that it's really time consuming to build strong relationships with families. But that can be the root of figuring out what's going on and solving those issues. Instead, schools are spending a lot of time on things that maybe take less time, and maybe are less costly, but maybe don't have the weight of building those strong relationships. One example is we see a lot of short-term, incentive-based approaches. Schools love incentives. They love, you know, they love to celebrate the kids, and they should. But there's very little evidence that those sorts of things actually improve attendance. Lenhoff: It's ultimately a reflection of schools and districts getting to the end of their rope and feeling like they're not able to fully solve this issue alone. But these are counterintuitive ways of solving the problem, because they erode the very things that are at the core of good attendance. So punitive approaches like court prosecution can erode school family relationships and weaken families, parents and students, ties to the district, that sense of belonging or engagement. You know, taking away social services is getting rid of resources that are crucial to actually enabling regular participation in school if a family has financial issues or some, some host of problems relating to those that cause them to miss school. Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit and covers Detroit school issues. You can reach her at lhiggins@ Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
