News stories were filed, parents hounded by reporters, t-shirts made (“I survived the 2007 A2 measles outbreak”), and lives were disrupted. This is probably the first time for most of us that we were on the receiving end of a public health alert, and it was an opportunity to see how the system did (or did not) work. It affected our kids, our schools, and our community.

Discuss.

Or, How To Get Blood from A Turnip

The saga of state funding for schools aside (see this article), the AAPS is currently trying to find a way to close a $5 million budget deficit for next year. Things may be worse than that, if school funding isn’t sorted out at the state level, or if many children leave the district in the wake of the Pfizer closing and troubles at Ford. (Schools receive funds on a per-pupil basis, and each student that leaves takes approximately $9600 with them.)

Our own Andy Thomas, BP Parent and our representative to the Ann Arbor PTO Council, has been known as a skeptic about Everyday Math (EDM), our district’s mathematics curriculum. Heeding AAPS Superintendent Todd Roberts’ call for curriculum decisions to be made based on real data, Thomas decided to analyze the effects of the EDM program on math proficiency. His findings surprised him, and may surprise you.

Among his key findings:

• Michigan districts that use EDM have higher math proficiency rates than those which do not

At the suggestion of a parent, I thought we’d try out a “classified ad” item, for families with household items for sale or trade. If you choose to try this out, please keep your postings short, and leave contact information. If you see something you’re interested in, please contact the seller directly rather than in the discussion. Comments and suggestions welcome!

Hello everyone interested in service learning!

The intent of this post is to give everyone an update on our status and progress so far.

Our club is meeting on the FIRST TUESDAY of each month, although we are tentatively considering the SECOND TUESDAY FOR JANUARY ONLY – no school the first Tuesday that month.

Meetings run officially from 3:42pm until 4:45pm.

We had a great signup and great turnouts for our first two meetings in October and November. So far this year, our kids have helped organize and execute the Halloween costume drive, Trick or Treating for UNICEF, and a great activity for Mott childrens hospital that involved our kids putting together activity kits for Mott kids – these included crayons and coloring kits as well as putting together fleece “crown” kits that give Mott kids distractions and warm fleece “hats” to wear.

Proposal 5, on the ballot this Election Day, is an initiative designed to protect and increase funding for public schools, colleges and universities in Michigan. It is probably the most viable attempt so far to change the school funding system put in place by Proposal A in 1994, and it has gained considerable momentum.

Key features of Proposal 5:

1. Guarantee increases in funding to state schools, colleges and universities that at least keep up with inflation (beginning in fiscal 2007).
2. Allow school districts with declining student populations to use a trailing three-year average for their total student count (state funding is calculated on a per pupil basis).
3. Reduces the gap between lower and higher-spending districts (by shrinking the difference between the “basic” per-pupil funding amount and the “maximum” amount to $1000 from $1300) by fiscal 2011.
4. Caps pension contributions from school systems, with the remainder covered by the state.
5. Requires the legislature to use available funds, including the state General Fund if necessary, for these purposes.
6. Changes would require a three-fourths vote in the state legislature (just as Proposal A does).

For more information on how school funding is currently structured in Michigan, you may find this article useful.

I’m not sure if this is the best forum for this.

I’d like to do what I can to get BP kids excited about chess. Ann Arbor has an abundance of opportunities and resources to help kids discover this rewarding pastime.

I’m not sure how many parents are aware that Ben Finegold, who comes to BP every Tuesday, is Michigan’s strongest ever chess player, and is #19 in the country. He also happens to be a great kids’ chess teacher.

There are also a couple statewide scholastic chess events including a team tournament in early spring. Many Ann Arbor elementary schools, including King, Wines, Logan and Thurston are well represented, but BP has for the most part been absent.

Please bear with us while we work on the format of PTO meeting reports…...

Highlights:

• We passed a budget for the 2006-7 year, including increases for PTO grants to teachers for classroom use (making up for cuts from the district).

• While the budget was balanced even with conservative revenue estimates, there was broad agreement that the PTO should not scale back fundraising activities. Continued cutbacks by the district are likely to put sustained pressure on the PTO budget as we try to maintain school programming.
• This budget is the first to reflect changes to the Golden Apple grant system, with money set aside for special enrichment assemblies that have typically been funded each year. Other programs, proposed by parents and teachers, will still need to go through the application process.

Thanks to everyone who has shown interest in the new service learning club at Burns Park Elementary, Burns Park Kids Care!

This week, we will be sending home a flyer with details about the initial club meetings and how to get started.

As of now, meetings are planned for the first Tuesday of every month, beginning October 3rd, at the school (room is currently TBD, as of this posting, but we will make it known and will post directions to the room at the front doors.) WATCH THIS SPACE!

Meetings will run from 3:45pm till 4:45pm (FIRST TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH.)

Please feel free to use this forum to ask questions or post ideas for the group, potential project ideas, and comments. Also, you can read more about the national Kids Care Club organization, which is a good resource for us with no constraints or obligations, here: www.kidscare.org

[Originally posted by Kelly Bumgarner]

Over the last two years, I have noticed that attendance at our PTO meetings is somewhat low, and usually consists of the same small group of people. I would like to see attendance increase because the meetings are where we make decisions about what to do for our kids and our school with the money we raise. Are there thing we can do to get you to come and get involved? Ideas we have so far include:

• trying different meeting times
• varying the meeting time

• limiting the meeting to only one hour