The Eastern Michigan University Educational Policy Committee discussed a proposal sponsoring three charter schools in the Detroit and Ypsilanti areas, which the Board of Regents approved at their Oct. 30 meeting.
Malverne Winborne, director of the Charter School Program at the university, said EMU’s support for three new charter schools should be a priority for the board’s consideration.
“Eastern Michigan would assist with legal issues, fiscal responsibility [and] regulating management, as well as helping financially,” Winborne said.
The three schools were selected after an extensive review process was conducted by the Charter Schools Office, executive leadership team and the Board of Regents.
Two of the schools are in Detroit, and one would be located in Ypsilanti in the Willow Run district. A total of 1,054 students would be in attendance at maximum capacity. Winborne said the schools could be open by the fall of 2013.
According to a release from the university, the three schools opening include:
Boggs Education Center will be located within the Detroit Public School District and have a total of 304 students. The school has decided to implement a place-based education program: A nationally renowned and research-based model that immerses students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences as a foundation for the study of academic subjects. Boggs Education Center will offer grades K-3 initially and K-12 at capacity and will be located at 1501 Canton St., Detroit.
Detroit Public Safety Academy will also be located within the Detroit Public School District and will have 250 students upon opening, with a total of 500 students at capacity. The academy’s focus will be educating and training students who are interested in police and firefighter technology, specifically addressing under-represented populations in these careers. Local and state federal police agencies and municipal firefighters will assist with tutoring, mentoring and life skills development. The academy will provide school-to-university-to-career readiness as well as teach the essential pillars of character education. It will offer grades 9 and 10 for the first year and increase to grades 9-12 at capacity. The school will be located at 1250 Rosa Parks Blvd., Detroit.
Global Tech Academy will be located in the Willow Run School District. The school will serve the community by providing a high quality education that includes a 21st century after-school program. In addition, the school will meet the basic needs of students and families with a universal breakfast and lunch program. With EMU’s Office of Urban Education Educational Equity as a partner, Global Tech Academy will become a professional development school for the preparation of urban teachers. The school will offer grades K-5 with a capacity of 250 students and will be located at 1715 Forest St., Ypsilanti.
“These will be the first new charter schools authorized at Eastern since 1999,” Winborne said in a release.
The Charter Schools Office was established in 1995 and began sponsoring schools in 1996. There are currently eight public school academies in the program, which are located in Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland and Genesee counties.
University students dropping out and probation requirements were also addressed at the committee meeting.
Faculty member Rhonda Longworth said, “Eastern students continue to have a substantial drop-out rate their second year of schooling.”
Longworth said students claim to drop classes due to financial reasons the majority of the time. She also said the true underlying reason in many situations is that students become eligible to have their financial aid cut during their sophomore year due to academic shortcomings.
However, graduation rates have continued to increase for five to six year students.
Regent Thomas Sidlik said, “If we take students’ money, it’s our obligation to graduate them in a reasonable amount of time.”
Regent members also said students on probation are now having their attendance tracked by scanning a bar code with their phones, and “E” grades would soon be changed to “F” grades in accordance with most other universities.
