Tuesday, March 26, 2013
District officials will meet with teachers and administration in Dearborn's 29 schools to prioritize projects for a possible $76 million bond project.
The Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education directed district officials to gather more information for a possible $76 bond proposal at its meeting on Monday. Board members said before they can approve ballot language for a proposal, they want to make sure all potential projects that would be included under the bond are necessary. In a previous presentation to the board, district spokesman David Mustonen outlined several key projects, including auto-lock doors and buzzer entry and video monitors in the office at all schools, and the purchase of 30 new buses. At Monday's meeting Superintendent Brian Whiston said the district also has plans to address specific issues at each building. "Every school is going to have some work done. What we …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Details about the bond were discussed at Monday night's Board of Education meeting.
Dearborn Public Schools district officials on Monday presented the Dearborn Board of Education with details of a $76 million bond that would go to support security, maintenance, transportation, school expansion and technology upgrades. The bond may come before Dearborn voters as soon as August. Much of the expenses are needed for upgrades—in transportation, technology and building infrastructure. According to district spokesman David Mustonen, the district used to commit $4-5 million of its annual budget to building maintenance and buses. In recent years, that cost has been closer to $1 million per year—most of it geared toward fixing immediate problems, such as a broken down bus, or a leaking roof. “Because of the reduction in funding …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The millage rate will be recalculated this spring, according to the district.
An effort to refinance two bonds for Dearborn Public Schools resulted in good news for taxpayers, the district announced Monday at its Board of Education meeting. By refinancing a portion of a 2003 refunding bond and a total building and site bond from 2004, the district was able to realize "significant" savings of nearly $1 million. Attorney Matt Hiser of Thrun Law Firm, who worked with the district on the refinancing, explained the process to the Board of Education. "This was generated by the fact that the school district was notified by its financial adviser ... that there might be an opportunity to achieve some savings for the school district's taxpayers by way of refinancing two of its outstanding bond issues," Hiser explained. The …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
A program that delays the high school start time by one hour that received little interest last year will be offered once again.
Students attending any of the Dearborn Public Schools high schools that are interested in beginning their classes an hour later will have an opportunity to so for the school year beginning in September 2013—if enough students are interested. The late-start program, which was the subject of an 18-month study by a special committee of educators and parents, was offered last year, but failed to generate enough interest to make the program worthwhile. But allegations by parents that too many students were excluded from participation in the program—and a petition signed by parents demanding re-examine the program, led to the program being moved up from the back burner. Helena Thornton, a parent or a Dearborn High graduate and a student starting…
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The new program available in Dearborn will allow residents to see which schools their kids will attend based on their address.
A request for a new tool for residents of the Dearborn Public Schools district yielded a learning opportunity for one budding technology whiz, the district announced Monday at their Board of Education meeting. Dearborn High and Michael Berry Career Center student Ali Isayli has spent part of his senior year developing an online program that allows residents to easily find out which schools their children will attend, based on their address. "I was approached by Dearborn Public Schools to do this project, and I was glad to take it," Isayli said to the board Monday. Technology Director for the district Troy Patterson commended Isayli's hard work. "We thought this would be a great opportunity for a student," he told the board. "It's very …
MEAP 2012 proficiency levels showed both ups and downs for Dearborn Public Schools.
Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent Brian Whiston was pleased with the district's 2012 Michigan Educational Assessment Program results, which were released Monday by the Michigan Department of Education. "We're very happy overall," Whiston said of the results after the Dearborn Board of Education's Monday night meeting. "But we'll never be really happy until we're leading the state in every subject." In Dearborn, results trended upward in reading and writing, as well as math, but proficiency levels overall fell in higher grade levels, with the state outpacing Dearborn in every subject except writing by grades 7, 8 and 9. More: Dearborn's 2012 MEAP Scores During the MEAP exam, taken during fall 2012, public school students in grades 3-9 …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Fordson High School teens raised $4,500 and collected donations for Toys for Tots in December.
Fordson High School students involved in student government were commended this month by the Dearborn Board of Education for raising thousands of dollars, plus donations of toys, in their holiday Toys for Tots drive at the end of 2012. Ali Farhat, a senior at Fordson, showcased the check for nearly $5,000—which the students donated to the Children's Hospital of Michigan—at the Jan. 14 board meeting. He spoke of the hard work he and other students put in to raise the funds and donations from fellow students, parents and staff. "To see the smiles on children's faces," he said, "it was worth it." Board Trustee Hussein Berry commented that the amount of donations was astounding. "High schools—they usually bring in $50-$60 and 10-15 toys," he …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Newly reelected trustees Mary Lane and Aimee Schoelles were sworn in this month.
The Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education announced its officers Monday at the regular school board meeting. Officers were chosen at a brief organizational meeting. Seventeen year veteran board member Pamela Adams was selected to be president. Hussein Berry was named vice president; Joe Guido, secretary; and James Schoolmaster will take on the role of treasurer. Board members serve in their officer position for one year, and new officers are chosen in January of each year. Two recently reelected school board members—Trustees Mary Lane and Aimee Schoelles (formerly Aimee Blackburn)—were also sworn in at the meeting by newly elected 19th District Court Judge Sam Salamey. Both Schoelles and Lane were successful in retaining their board …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
A combination of retirements and substitute teacher savings allowed the district to close a $1.1 million budget gap.
Planned mid-year layoffs of instructional staff in Dearborn Public Schools have been dodged, the Dearborn Board of Education announced Monday at its board meeting. A combination of shortfalls in funding and missed Best Practices funds from the state had left the district with a $5.5 million budget gap in November. Rainy day funds, pension contribution reductions, and the implementation of Schools of Choice made up for the majority of that gap. However, the district predicted that $1.1 million of the deficit would have to be made up with teacher layoffs. Those cuts were expected to be announced at Monday night's meeting. Instead, Superintendent Brian Whiston announced that several mid-year retirements, coupled with cuts in planned spending …
The Dearborn Board of Education announced the donations at their Monday night meeting.
More than $15,000 in donations of funds and technology products were announced Monday at the Dearborn Board of Education meeting. From a Promethean Board at Nowlin Elementary to funds for a new scoreboard at Edsel Ford High School, donations will be used mainly for technological advances in Dearborn's classroooms. Here's a look at the donations: Interested in making a donation to Dearborn Public Schools? Learn more at the Dearborn Education Foundation's website.
Daniel Lai
11:23 am on Thursday, March 28, 2013
Hello Axxel, Here is a preliminary breakdown of what they are looking at: http://dearborn.patch.com/articles/dearborn-schools-may-ask-for-76m-bond-from-voters-in-august more ›