Pierce School  to close in 2024-25, Neithercut in 2025-26 as Flint school board moves toward “right-sizing”
Oct20

Pierce School to close in 2024-25, Neithercut in 2025-26 as Flint school board moves toward “right-sizing”

By Harold C. Ford At a special meeting  Oct. 5, the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) voted to close two elementary schools in the next two years. The FBOE voted 6-1 to close Pierce Elementary to students on Flint’s near east side at 1101 W. Vernon Dr. in the 2024-25 school year. Votes for closing Pierce came from: Michael Clack, president; Joyce Ellis-McNeal, vice president; Claudia Perkins, secretary; Laura MacIntyre, assistant...

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Education Beat:  Mixed results on post-pandemic assessment data for area schools
Sep30

Education Beat:  Mixed results on post-pandemic assessment data for area schools

By Harold C. Ford Area student performance in the first post-pandemic year, 2022-2023, offers a mixture of good and bad news, according to data provided by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), with Flint students showing a small gain in one area and losses in two others. In all three cases, Flint area student performances were far below state percentages, consistent with the numbers before the pandemic. Data collected during...

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Commentary: What lies ahead for Flint’s colleges? — Centennials, conflict, change, and challenges
Sep29

Commentary: What lies ahead for Flint’s colleges? — Centennials, conflict, change, and challenges

By Paul Rozycki The University of Michigan-Flint has a new chancellor; Mott Community College’s president is applying for a position in Kentucky; Kettering University has a new vice president, is looking to a “transformational decade”; and, since 2005, the Flint Community Schools have had eight superintendents and are facing dramatically declining enrollment while dealing with empty and crumbling school buildings. It may be time for...

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Taliah Abdullah, new Gloria Coles Flint Public Library director:  “Community is at the heart of who I am”
Sep28

Taliah Abdullah, new Gloria Coles Flint Public Library director: “Community is at the heart of who I am”

By Canisha Bell and Jan Worth-Nelson “I believe in community – community is at the heart of who I am as an individual, what I believe in and why I became a librarian.” That’s how Taliah Abdullah, executive director of the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library since July 24, described her commitments and values in a wide-ranging recent interview with East Village Magazine. Abdullah, finishing her second month as the library’s top...

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City council approves Phase 2 of the Buick City Redevelopment Plan – using a complex financing model
Aug25

City council approves Phase 2 of the Buick City Redevelopment Plan – using a complex financing model

By Tom Travis The Flint City Council has approved an embattled resolution for the city to release the 350-acre former Buick City brownfield to developer Ashley Capital. Ashley Capital is under contract to purchase the site from Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response (RACER) Trust. Ashley officials plan to develop a state-of-the-art industrial park expected to bring about 3,000 jobs to the City of Flint — jobs paying...

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