Schools

In Brief: School Board Hears Complaints About Elementary Reading Program

Other district news includes a pay-to-play rates for high school and middle school athletes.

The Birmingham Board of Education had a long night in front of a packed house Tuesday, discussing a full agenda on top of hearing testimony from nearly two dozen elementary teachers speaking out against a new reading assessment program.

Teachers were particularly upset about the implementation of the Fountas and Pinnell assessment program, which was introduced to elementary teachers in January. Teachers have been instructed to determine three reading levels for each student by June 10.

Teachers were upset at the amount of time they’ve been either out of the classroom in training or trying to assess students’ reading levels before the end of the year. Each assessment requires teachers to work one-on-one with students and takes around 45 minutes per student.

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Penny Shimoura, a kindergarten teacher at , said all the time spent in training lately is concerning, as is the process of assessing each student by the end of the year.

“I don’t feel that this is the right way to be with my students,” Shimoura said.

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Other district news

  • Superintendent David Larson announced the the Birmingham Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) will be holding a parent letter-writing rally from 9-11 a.m. May 25 in . The rally is intended to show the district’s solidarity against proposed cuts to education in Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget.
  • Trustee Robert Lawrence announced that the district awarded $65,000 in scholarships this year as part of the Scholarship Fund Association. Of those, 21 were awarded to graduating high school seniors while 28 were given to current college students.
  • Natalie Wright, a senior in ’s flex program, announced that her class will be hosting an event discussing genocide and the Holocaust from 9 a.m.-2:15 p.m. May 26 at the high school. Named “Remembering the Holocaust,” the class will be hosting speakers and leading breakout sessions. Student art will also be up for auction, with proceeds to go to the Holocaust Memorial Center.
  • The board voted to hire Yeo & Yeo as the district’s auditors from 2011 to 2015. For many years, Plante & Moran had served as the district’s auditing firm. “We are extremely disappointed about the (board’s) recommendation,” said a representative from Plante & Moran. Trustee Christopher Conti said while they appreciate Plante & Moran’s years of service, they needed to change the firm to “shake the tree a little” and ensure audits don’t become routine.
  • Athletic directors from Seaholm and — Aaron Frank and Tom Flynn — presented on the state of the district’s athletic department. The district introduced a registration website this year, Frank said, with 3,200 students choosing to register online. The athletic department also made $347,000 in revenue, however both Flynn and Frank noted the department's cost-saving measures, including a proposal to increase pay-to-play fees next year. High school students would have a two-tiered rate system — $145 per student, or the current rate, for most sports and $165 for high-cost sports. Middle school pay-to-play rates would go up from $110 per student to $120.


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