Croswell Elementary proposes "Mobile Learning Express"; committee to recommend $14,000 general-fund line for start-up recurring costs

Croswell Drive Elementary Principal Sean Hegarty and Assistant Principal Tanya Thomas Smalls presented a proposal for a “Mobile Learning Express” — a smaller van-based mobile lab designed to bring after-school tutoring and family resources into neighborhoods with concentrated low student achievement.

Hegarty and Thomas Smalls said transportation and caregiver work schedules prevent many students from accessing after-school programs. The proposed mobile unit would be staffed primarily by Croswell teachers and use Title I braided funds plus outside grants and community partnerships for startup and operational support. “We would go out to them, sit the van in the middle of the community, and the students would only have to come outside of their doors, rather than coming to the school,” Thomas Smalls said. The team envisions a vehicle with computers and instructional staff serving Monday through Thursday from roughly 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., plus light snacks funded through food-service grants.

The presenters said the vehicle would not require a commercial driver’s license, and that build-out from purchase to completion would take approximately six to 12 months if ordered new. Staffing would rely on existing Croswell teachers financed through Title I allocations; the presenters confirmed Title I hourly caps apply to supplemental assignments.

The project team requested the finance committee recommend including $14,000 in the district general fund to cover recurring operating costs (fuel, repair and maintenance) and to add that line into the budget at first reading. When asked, Hegarty and Thomas Smalls said they were continuing to pursue additional grant and private contributions to cover vehicle purchase and outfitting. The committee agreed it would include the recommendation to fund $14,000 from the general fund in its list of proposals to the full board.