By Harold C. Ford
A takeaway that emerged from the Nov. 8 (Committee of the Whole or COW) and Nov. 15 (regular board meeting) meetings of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE):
Michigan Superintendent of Instruction Michael Rice told the board that the Flint Community Schools (FCS) has too many buildings for too few students, that the flush of COVID-era cash will soon disappear, and, without rightsizing the school district, the district is likely headed for a financial crisis.
State superintendent delivers sobering message
The Nov. 8 assessments of Rice, Michigan’s top education official, were gently delivered, but the foreboding nature of his commentary was hard to miss. The major points of his commentary follow:
Michael Rice, Michigan superintendent of public instruction (Photo by Mark Bugnaski, The Detroit News)
- FCS has too many buildings for too few students.
- “Having too many facilities busts the budget … That should give you substantial pause.”
- “It [too many facilities] adversely affects your teacher staffing.”
- “The more you spread out your buildings, the more you’re going to inefficiently staff [the buildings].”
- “I urge you to expedite the structural balance … including expediting right-sized school space.”
- “Some of these buildings were not meant to be here a hundred years later … They need to be replaced.”
- “You do not need 11 schools.”
- FCS needs to increase its student enrollment.
- “You can’t have the current market share [student enrollment] and make it work.”
- “You do need a larger market share [of students that have Flint addresses].” (In May of 2023, the auditing firm Plante Moran Cresa told the FBOE that 75 to 80 percent of Flint’s children “are going someplace else” other than Flint’s public schools.)
- “You’ve got to grow that market share. You’ve got to bring people back.”
- The FCS financial profile, currently buoyed by ESSER/COVID-relief funding, will soon revert to a pre-pandemic status of annual deficits and long-term debt when that funding disappears if adjustments are not undertaken.
- “Recurring revenue [has to be greater than] “recurring expenditures.”
- ESSER funds are “nonrecurring revenue” … [they make the financial picture] “appear better, but that’s illusory.”
- “Your fund balance will dissipate … in 2024-25.”
- Rice predicted “a $14 million gap (or) structural deficit between recurring revenue and recurring expenditures” if changes are not made.
- “The projections are sobering.”
- “It’s about cutting and growing.”
- Rice made clear that FCS needs to improve its financial profile, elevate student academic performance, and that the two are linked.
- “If you don’t have control over your finances … you can’t have control over your academics.”
- “Board, you need to accelerate your progress both financially and academically.”
- Finally, Rice urged a more independent role for the FCS superintendent, free from unnecessary oversight by FBOE members.
- “Leave the day-to-day running of your school district to your very capable superintendent.”
- “Leave the day-to-day operations to him [Kevelin Jones, FCS superintendent] and his staff.”
“We are what we need”
The response of FCS officials to Rice’s remarks at the Nov. 8 meeting were immediate and self-congratulatory:
- Joyce Ellis-McNeal, FBOE vice president: McNeal lauded the potential of a strategic plan. “We’re not done with the strategic plan,” she said. “I urge … that we keep moving forward the way we going.”
- Melody Relerford, trustee: Relerford noted that five of seven FBOE members became “board-certified” in January. “We all take our positions very seriously … [the Flint superintendent] has learned to trust us as well as we trust him … This is the best board for Flint Community Schools … We’re a lot better … We are what we need.”
- Laura MacIntyre, assistant secretary/treasurer: MacIntyre metaphorically pointed an accusing figure at the impact of charter schools. “We’re forced to deal with … an assault on public education … the number of charter schools,” she said, “whether we like them or not.”
- Claudia Perkins, FBOE secretary: “This is a very progressive board,” Perkins said. “We have learned to work together … I believe Flint is going to be the comeback kid.”
- Terae King, trustee: King lauded new public relations initiatives in FCS. “The social media is on fire,” he said. “The board, we had rough times,” King added, “but we’re doing an awesome job.”
- Kevelin Jones, FCS superintendent: “We are taking care of Flint,” Jones said. “We are going to do our best to ensure that the scholars that are coming … have a brighter future.”
YouTube recording of Nov. 8 FBOE meeting can be viewed at this link.
“We do great things.”
Seven days later at the FBOE’s Nov. 15 meeting, the praise fest continued:
- Michael Clack, FBOE president: “Board, thank you for all of our hard work … I’m proud of you all.”
- Perkins: “I don’t want anybody to think we aren’t on top of this stuff, because we are … We are very much involved … to make Flint a better place in every area … We’re doing so many things to try to bring Flint back.”
- King: King acknowledged FCS student success at a health care program as an example of “…great things our district is doing. We do great things.”
- MacIntyre: “We’re all doing our part,” said MacIntyre as she threw verbal bouquets in the direction of nearly everyone. To King: “Gratitude … for doing a lot with school safety.” To Luna: “for invaluable information you bring to the board.” To Perkins: “for just being you with all your union [and] legislative expertise.” To McNeal “You’re just basically a rock.” To Clack: “You’re being very presidential.” To Relerford: “You are on it.” To Jones: “Every day and every week you’re more ‘superintendenty.’”
YouTube recording of Nov. 8 FBOE meeting can be viewed at this link.
Thus, in the remaining one hour and 22 minutes of the Nov. 8 meeting following Rice’s sobering presentation, and the one hour and 53 minutes of the Nov. 15 meeting a week later – 3.3 hours of public meeting time in all – not a single substantive word by any member of the FBOE directly addressed any of the major points made by Michigan’s top education official.
No further actions to rightsize district after Oct. 5
As reported earlier by East Village Magazine (EVM), the FBOE agreed to close two of its 11 buildings – Pierce in 2024-25 and Neithercut in 2025-26 – at an Oct. 5 special meeting. Attempts to close Eisenhower and the district’s Administration Building were turned down.
No further action(s) to rightsize its building lineup were undertaken at the FBOE’s four subsequent meetings: Oct. 11 and 18; Nov. 8 and 15.
Postscript
* * * * *
The next two meetings of the FBOE are scheduled back-to-back on the evening of Dec. 13, starting at 6:30 p.m., at Accelerated Learning Academy, 1602 South Averill Ave., Flint. Interested persons can join the meeting online at the following link: www.flintschools.org
EVM Education Beat reporter Harold C. Ford can be reached at hcford1185@gmail.com.
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