Chippewa Valley Applies to State for 'Best Practices' Grants

In an effort to supplement its funding, Chippewa Valley Schools will apply for a portion of the $154 million appropriated by Gov. Rick Snyder in June for districts that meet multiple "best practices" defined by the Michigan Department of Education.

On June 21, Snyder enacted legislation under Section 22f of the State School Aid Act, 2011 PA 62, that appropriates $154 million to fund $100-per-pupil grants for the 2011-12 school year.

Local school districts and public school academies are eligible for these one-time grants but must meet four out of five of the MDE's financial best practices.

• MET: Hold policy on medical benefit plans (if directly employed by district): Chippewa is the designated policyholder for the medical benefit plan.
• MET: Develop and implement a Service Consolidation Plan: Chippewa will continue to implement a service consolidation plan that includes cost sharing with Mount Clemens for shared maintenance and custodial supervisors.
• MET: Obtain competitive bids on non-instructional services: Chippewa has obtained a competitive bid on non-instructional services, including the high school security bid.
• MET: Provide a dashboard or report card with specific indicators: Chippewa provides a link on the district’s home page to the URL for the MI School Data Portal which will contain the required dashboard indicators. 
• NOT MET: Charge employees at least 10 percent of the health care premium

While all Chippewa employees pay between 10-20 percent for the cost of their health care, the state requires employees contribute 10 percent on all services, including vision and dental. Not all Chippewa employees meet this requirement, so the district does not meet this fifth "best practice" at this time, said Diane Blain, community relations director.

However, since a district is only required to meet four of these five criteria to be eligible for funding, the school board approved a resolution at its Sept. 12 meeting to allow the district to apply for these grants.

This one-time funding will be distributed by MDE once that department determines Chippewa has met the requirements.