Schools

Athletic Advantage or Disciplinary Disadvantage? Chippewa Valley Debates Midyear School of Choice

The Chippewa Valley school board is debating the pros and cons of allowing midyear transfers as a school of choice.

Debate at Monday’s Chippewa Valley Schools Board of Education meeting centered on whether the district should open as a midyear school of choice. While this arrangement could be a draw for athletes, neighboring school districts have cautioned that discipline problems represent the majority of midyear transfers.

While Chippewa Valley is a school of choice, it has never accepted students midyear and few Macomb County districts offer this option.

In speaking with the Macomb Intermediate School District, Diane Blaine, Chippewa community relations director, said one of the concerns local districts have reported is that midyear schools of choice “run the risk of students that are looking to escape discipline problems in another district or academic problems or shortcomings.”

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Students can be denied enrollment if discipline problems have been documented for two years prior, but in the case of a January transfer, Ed Skiba, executive director of secondary education, said the grace period is much shorter and the student may already be enrolled before such information becomes available.

Superintendent Ron Roberts emphasized that the discipline problems must be “documented,” meaning frequent trips to the office–but no actual suspensions–will not show on a student’s record.

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“You personally have to ask yourself, why are we doing this and what reason are these kids having to switch,” said George Sobah, board president.

While Sobah said he understands athletes wanting to transfer midyear so as to be eligible for fall sports, he added he is hesitant to open the district to 15-20 students with discipline problems to gain four to five athletes.

“I don’t know if we’re here for athletics, but we’re here for education,” he said.

However, because so few other districts practice midyear schools of choice and no hard data is available, the district cannot know for sure that discipline problems would make up the majority of midyear transfers.

For trustee Andrew Patzert, the issue of students with disciplinary problems transferring into the district is not one isolated to the midyear.

“Students that find their way into our system throughout the year after school has started, they’re either move-ins or they’re slick as a rock,” he said. “They’ll find their way in somehow, someway. Some people are going to beat our system.”

Because the district does not currently allow in-district transfers once the school year has started, another concern is that by offering midyear schools of choice, Chippewa Valley will also have to allow enrolled students to transfer during the year.

No decision has been made, but the board is expected to return to the issue at its Sept. 12 meeting. A decision to allow midyear schools of choice will likely take the form of a one-year pilot program.


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