Croswell Charter School Grand Opening

May 6, 2009 · 13 comments

SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2009 – ROMEO, MI- Today marks the opening day of a brand new school in the Village of Romeo. 350 excited faces greeted the staff of North Macomb’s newest charter school. “We can’t believe that this dream became a reality this fast!” That’s Todd Nelson, the school’s principal. Nelson is a 14 year veteran Principal who came to Romeo after being laid off in Hillsdale last June due to decreased enrollment. He’s referring to the miraculous creation of the new charter school, which sprang up just months ago when concerned parents realized they were left with few options. In May, when the Romeo Community School board voted to close Croswell Elementary School for alleged budgetary reasons, a group of parents met to create an alternative to the struggling school district. Tiffany Johnson, who lives on Tilson Street remarked, “What we love about Romeo is that our kids can walk to their neighborhood school. When we heard the school was starting and they had recruited the best teachers in Michigan who just happened to have been laid off because they didn’t have the seniority to keep their jobs in union school districts, we signed up our Susie right away.”

Of course that is fiction. Yet, I don’t think it’s impossible to believe this scenario is true for Fall 2009. Last Monday, the Romeo Community School board voted to close the centrally located, recently updated Croswell Elementary School because of their lack of foresight. They all balked, laughed even, when I presented them with 5 Money Saving Ideas just a year ago. Today I balk at their lack of foresight and mismanagement. Every member of that board should be recalled as they have failed to lead the district through tough times.

Their administrators all make money college administrators would dance over. Their staff all make too much money with guaranteed raises despite falling test scores and a deficit budget. While the district had the opportunity to negotiate with the unions last summer, they chose to deny the data they had and sign a new contract which completely bankrupted the district. With more than 91% of their overall spending going to employee salaries and benefits (more if you figure in the slush fund known as the Sinking Fund) they have fiscally robbed the education of the children they were voted and hired to serve.

While housing prices in the district slumped 50%, the board planned for an INCREASE in tax revenue from the state. While unemployment soared in the district, they projected that more students would move to Romeo. What we see from that district is backward thinking… it’s time for a fresh start.

Unlike some of my friends who go to school board meetings ready to argue, I think the wisest thing to do at this point is to let those silly elected officials have the district. Many are bankrolled with MEA union dollars or physically threatened into doing the will of contractors who get rich. It’s a tiring game of cat and mouse. They will not be satisfied until they have completely blead the district dry.

With prime real estate and a willing group of parents, the perfect time has arisen for a new option in Romeo education: Charter schools.

Here are the facts:

- A charter school would be entitled to the full per pupil income that RCS currently recieves. If Croswell attracted 300 elementary students, they would instantly generate roughly $2 million in revenue from the State of Michigan.

- A charter school could further get grants from the Federal government. President Obama is pro-charter school and anti-1950s era school failures like we see in Romeo.

- With unemployment hovering around 17% in Michigan and higher in Macomb County, hiring teachers at a fair wage would be a snap. I am convinced you’d have thousands of applicants for the 15-20 positions you’d need to fill.

- The rest of the needed positions, from janitors to food service, could be filled with community members looking for reasonable hourly work.

- There are hundreds of parents whose children are being displaced. Kids who once walked to school from the neighborhoods are now going to be required to ride buses. I’m guessing those parents would love the opportunity to experiment with a new school. In fact, I have no doubt that there are parents in surrounding communities willing to drive into Romeo to try something outside of the union box.

- There is plenty of data to back that a public charter school can provide an equal or better education. My own children attend one!

- Once a new charter is formed, they would be wise to hire a charter school company to run the school. Here’s a link to get you thinking.

- Other then procuring a rental/purchase agreement for the otherwise vacant property, the Romeo Community School board would have no say. It would truly be a new day for education in the village.

- All of this really could happen by September 8th 2009! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. A charter board would need to be created to start the paperwork immediately. It is plausible. E-mail me if interested and I’ll help get the group meeting!

Some may dismiss me and say, “Adam, why should we listen to you? You don’t even live here anymore?” True, I moved from the district in August. (sadly) But I continue to be concerned because this is an issue of justice. It sickens me to see reform-minded board members intimidated and threatened. It sickens me to see 1950s era unions having more say in the district then the parents. It sickens me that money is wasted on overpaid administrators while the education of the districts children continues to decline.

Someone has to encourage others in Romeo to stand up and scream outragiously “ENOUGH!” There is another way. There is a way where that coin is flipped and dollars are spent on education. There is a way which truly puts the kids first and the unions in their place. The time for school reform has passed. The time to take action and educate children in a responsible way has arisen.

The question is, are there parents in Romeo willing to lead that charge? Or will 2009-2010 just be another year of fighting a battle against 1950s era unions?

Barb

I’m surprised you haven’t got a lot of comments on this blog. I think they would have a waiting list if they were to turn Croswell into a charter school.
http://adammclane.com adam mclane

@barb- I’m not surprised. I’ve gotten several funny emails about it. And since it’s on my server I can see all the stats of how many times it’s been read, where it’s being emailed, stuff like that. So I know who is reading it and I know who emails me about it.

I agree with you. There is little doubt that RCS just presented someone with the opportunity of a lifetime.
http://tashmcgill.blogspot.com tash

even from the other side of the world – good on you for publishing something so proactive. hope that the stingback isn’t too great.
Sam

Adam,

I applaud your ideas, but unfortunately, I don’t think that the majority of the parents in Romeo are as concerned with quality education as they are with their child getting “A’s” in their classes: Board members included. When a teacher who has all but one of her students pass the AP Calculus BC exam is being moved due to “student’s needs”, it is no longer about providing the best possible education for the students. When this teacher tries to stand up and expose the failure in the mind set of administrators with regards to gifted and talented education, she is retaliated against. Many of the teachers that have tried to keep high levels of educational expectations in the classroom have given up or retired. The consequence: Romeo’s scores will continue to decline as they have this year.
http://adammclane.com adam mclane

@sam- until people stand up and oust the unions, nothing in Romeo Schools will change. The #1 priority of the power-players on the board, whose elections are supported and bank-rolled by the unions, is to distribute as much of the state funds as possible to union employees, union contractors, etc. Currently more than 90% of state funds are spent on employee benefits and compensation. Until people stand up, earn seats at the table, and fire the unions, education will continue to be just the buzz word they use to extract money for their members.

What’s fair and best for the students is to keep teachers who are excellent, remove/retrain those who are not, and involve parents in the educational process. Your statement just validates that.

But change will not come to Romeo as long as people are intimidated and silent. For 2 years I have had people email me in secret, say things like “don’t say my name public” and things like that. It’s not until a mass of people speak out that things will change.

The union experiment has failed the state of Michigan. It’s time to oust them from the state one industry at a time.
Sandra DiPaola

Although I do not live in Romeo this is something my family has been waiting for. We live in Almont and feel the same about the Almont school system. With the economy in the slup it is in and housing in the slump we are handcuffed to our home and school district, but if a charter school were to open as this I would make great strides to enroll my children, for the better environment and education.
http://adammclane.com adam mclane

We don’t live in Romeo either. (We cut our handcuffs off, so to speak) But I do think there is room for a charter school in Romeo. Just keep looking at abandoned buildings as potential schools!
Shannon

I tried to share this when I found it. It won’t let me,

I totally think you may be on to something. Our kids are getting the short end of the stick due to greed! WAKE UP ROMEO!

That’s another reason I’m looking into homeschooling.
http://LIVEJOURNAL Robert Maye

romeo is calling for a 8,730,000 bond when :add to ballot,1,500 millon in interest
A- they are 37 millon dollars in debt .
B -this year 2010 they (use) will make a payment of 7 million dollar payment
3,500 millon principle & 3,500 millon interest = 7 millon
C – lighting at RERTC is over 100,000 a year because it is active
at night 365 days a year
D – we bus 2000 students a day from romeo high to RETC and back (4 trips 500 students. a day using 5 buses , 5 drivers , 4 times a day =20 trips a day @ 7 miles
a gallon 40 gallons for each bus
Brandi Racz

Adam: You might want to research the fact that the now defunct Romeo Montessori School filed an application to become a Charter School and received a grant from the State of Michigan for being one of the best applicants only to lose the charter to a more popluated area (Royal Oak). Cities are always going to show greater need. The fact is the schools in Romeo test well and don’t have enough “free lunch” students to qualify for “need” when you are up against schools in Detroit and surrounding areas. Unless someone comes forward with an incredible grant and an outstanding vision for a Charter School it won’t happen. The Grant that was written for Romeo Montessori was stellar and it still did not get chosen.

http://adammclane.com adam mclane

I’d not heard of the Montessori school trying to become a charter. You mean the one next door to the Bruce Twp offices?

Sounds like the unions got involved at the state level to me.

That, and I would think the word Montessori has gotten branded as a private alternative in people’s minds. I wouldn’t have submitted a charter application with that word on the application. (Waldorf Schools in California face a similar problem) Branding is pretty powerful.

I don’t live in any longer. But the same truths are there… the unions are using their power to intimidate people out of the system. Until the community rises up and kicks the union back school board members out of office, nothing will change. Follow the money. It’s the oldest adage in politics. Follow the money and you’ll know who to get rid of. Less than 10% of state funds make it to the classroom… that’s disgusting.

Brandi Racz

Yes, the one next to Bruce Township Fire Department. When you submit an application you have show that you are offering a new and different perspective to traditional education. Montessori does that. It’s not a brand it’s a method. Also, Romeo Montessori received a grant, as I mentioned, which indicated it was in the top percentage of the charter applications at that time. My point is this: You might be oversimplifying a little bit when you blog that the the scared, sad and angry parents of Croswell children can rise up and get a charter school opened. It’s a little more complicated than that, unfortunately. It’s a long process of Grant writing, interviews, and approval. I do agree that parents uniting with the goal of improving schools is powerful but unless one of the parents is an expert grant writer you’re not going to get far in the charter community. Also, for the record, an inneffective board does not make Romeo Community Schools bad. I suggest parents unite, attend board meetings, demand change and help out at the schools as much as possible. They still have alot of great teachers that care and that work very hard. Also, it’s notable that the charter granted in Royal Oak is a Montessori school and while the drive would be long for Romeo residents it’s a public school academy, anyone can apply.
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