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Security upgrades at three Saginaw Public Schools buildings will cost nearly $500,000, according to Campus Safety Magazine. The Saginaw Board of Education approved a contract with Security Corp. of Novi to place approximately 90 cameras in each of three schools. Motion sensors, a new key system and access control also are part of the security plan.
Competition and hands-on learning help boys academically, according to Plymouth-Canton Community Schools officials. The district is working with an educational consultant to change how boys are taught in response to research showing they learn differently than girls, the Detroit Free Press reported. Some research suggests physiological differences in the brains of boys and girls play a role in achievement gaps.
A Dallas-based energy management company has signed contracts to manage energy use in several Metro Detroit school districts, promising to refund the difference if the districts’ actual savings on natural gas, electricity and water falls short of goals. So far, Novi, Farmington, Ypsilanti and Utica school districts have signed on with Energy Education Inc., according to The Detroit News.
Detroit Public Schools remains the largest school district in Michigan, followed by Utica, but third-place Grand Rapids Public Schools is losing ground to Plymouth-Canton, the Grand Rapids Press reported. GRPS officials said they expect their final student count to show a decline of more than 700 students, putting enrollment under 20,000. Plymouth Canton reported gaining 200 students, putting it next in line at 19,000.
Hundreds of students stayed out of classes at Willow Run High School on Sept. 27 — the state’s official student count day — to protest the lack of a new teacher contract and a reduction in counselors. The action forced the district to postpone its count until the following day. A union representative told media that teachers did not encourage students to mount the protest, but appreciated their support.
The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians will pay to continue an after-school tutoring program in Ontonogan County’s Ewen-Trout Creek school district this year. The program’s future was in doubt due to reductions in a state grant, according to the Ironwood Daily Globe. About 48 students were receiving tutoring services at the end of the 2006-2007 school year.
The number of students served under Ohio’s EdChoice voucher plan was expected to double this year, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Nearly 8,000 students applied for the program, which offers private-school tuition to students who otherwise would attend low-performing public schools. The number of low-performing schools increased this year, making more students eligible.
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