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L'Anse Creuse staff propose expanding middle-school school-of-choice window, increasing high-school seats
Summary
District staff told the school board they plan to expand middle-school school-of-choice to “unlimited,” raise some high-school seat limits and pursue more exit-survey data after reviewing gains-and-losses and discipline records.
L'Anse Creuse Public Schools staff presented a package of proposed changes to the district's school-of-choice enrollment window and seat limits during the board's meeting; the proposal would make middle-school (grades 6–8) school-of-choice “unlimited” and raise limited high-school seats for grades 9–10 from 20 to 40.
The changes come after staff reviewed the district’s gains-and-losses reports and other enrollment data. Staff reported the district recorded 1,731.95 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students gained from other districts and 1,182.55 FTE lost to other districts for a net difference of 549 FTE. Staff said 82 former L'Anse Creuse students who moved out applied for school of choice to remain with the district; overall school-of-choice enrollment was reported as 16.5 percent of district enrollment and about 30 percent of school-of-choice slots were filled by students who had previously attended L'Anse Creuse.
Lisa, curriculum staff (role/title not specified), described how limited versus unlimited windows work under state law and the district's past practice: kindergarten and elementary have historically been unlimited; middle school had been limited and staff recommended returning to unlimited for grades 6–8 to give families more time to apply. For high school the proposal would keep limited status for grades 9–10 but expand available seats from 20 to 40 to reduce the likelihood of a lottery for eligible applicants.
On discipline and transfer vetting, Lisa said the district requires applicants to provide two years of discipline records. Staff told the board they screen applications for “red flags,” contact prior districts when records look incomplete and use the Michigan Student Data System (MSDS) to identify expulsions or long-term suspension recommendations. She said applications that show language such as “parent meeting required to return” or “held in abeyance” prompt outreach to the student’s prior district before the district admits the student.
Board members asked for more detail on the discipline and suspension comparisons and on the suspension numbers presented. One board member requested that staff return the same data expressed as percentages rather than raw counts; staff agreed to provide percentage calculations in a follow-up report. Staff also agreed to pull the gain-and-loss charts for the last two years for comparison.
Board discussion touched on local factors that drive students to neighboring districts — including new housing developments along boundary roads and real-estate marketing that confuses families about district lines — and on athletics and other programmatic draws. Staff said some moves are driven by family moves for jobs or new housing and noted exit surveys historically produced low response rates; staff said they will try renewed exit-survey efforts but cannot withhold records for compliance reasons.
The board did not take a formal vote on a policy change at the meeting; staff said the item would return with a proposed policy or rule for board action.
Ending
Staff said they will follow up with the board with percentage breakdowns for suspension comparisons, the last several years of gains-and-losses data, and a draft recommendation for the school-of-choice window and seat numbers to appear on a future agenda.
