New Michigan Department of Education Rule Impacts Berkley School District

The is working to respond to a new Michigan Department of Education requirement for schools with large gaps in performance that could result in a number of student transfers within the district.

As part of a set of mandates for state-designated "Focus Schools," announced last week along with , districts will have to allow a number of students to move out of any school in that category and into another designated school within the district beginning in the 2012-13 school year.

The requirement only applies to Focus Schools that receive Title I dollars, which are provided through a federal program to help fund schools with high percentages of students from low-income families. is the only builiding in the Berkley School District that has been labeled a Focus School and receives Title I funding.

The Focus School designation – applied to 358 schools in 176 districts across the state – is one of three new categories identified by the MDE, which released its statewide school report cards Thursday.

Focus Schools are the 10 percent of schools with the widest academic disparity between the top 30 percent of students and the bottom 30 percent. Two Berkley School District schools received the Focus School designation – Norup and Berkley High School, which does not receive Title I funding.

"The Berkley Schools will need some time with the administrative team to interpret the new data and designations from the State," BSD Communications Supervisor Jessica Stilger e-mailed Berkley Patch this week.

She added that BSD Director of Curriculum, Technology, Assessment and Grants Mary Beth Fitzpatrick was set to attend an MDE webinar Wednesday to learn more about the Focus Schools requirements.

"After the webinar we will have enough information to fully complete our plan of action required by this designation, including the letter to parents and the plan for the Title 1 dollars required to be set aside," she said. "We will continue to focus on meeting the needs of all learners in the Berkley School District while we work with these new designations and requirements."

Districts will be left to decide how many spots will be open for each school, but must provide transportation for these transferred students to the new school. The district will be required to set aside 10 percent of its Title 1 funding for these transportation costs.

According to Vanessa Keesler, the head of Evaluation, Research and Accountability for the Michigan Department of Education, this school-of-choice policy has always been in place for schools that have not achieved Adequate Yearly Progress status.

Beyond allowing some students to transfer schools, Focus Schools must utilize an MDE-provided District Toolkit, plus MDE-trained and paid-for District Improvement Facilitators. Both are aimed at closing the achievement gap.

Districts will have one year to self-diagnose and self-prescribe customized changes for the Focus Schools and their students, according to the MDE. There are escalating supports and consequences for Focus Schools that do not close their achievement gaps.

“We are committed to closing the achievement gaps in all of our schools for all of our students,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said. “With this measure of transparency, schools will be identified and held accountable for the achievement of all of their students.”