School Board Takes Questions, Criticism from Residents

At last Monday night's school board meeting, the board and superintendent Cherie Vannatter faced questions from the audience of parents as well as each other.

According to published reports, the Manchester Community School district is facing serious deficit problems, that have been ongoing for more than two years. Although the amount of fund balance (savings account) districts are required to keep on hand has not yet been finalized, passage of current legislation on the table could mean that the district could be pinpointed for an emergency manager takeover by the end of the next budget year.

"Until we know the specifics of the law, it is hard to speculate the fallout for Manchester Community Schools," Vannatter said.  "We are continuing to be as fiscally responsible as we can during this time."

Declining enrollment numbers has been a concern to Vannatter and the board for a few years now, Vannatter continued. With the drop in enrollment numbers, the district's revenue simply has not kept up with expenses.

Parents at Monday's meeting questioned many aspects of the continuing decline in enrollment, including the number of students leaving the district and how these departures are being handled by the school secretaries rather than the board or administration.

Vannatter said that the number of kindergarten students enrolling in the past three years has not matched the graduating classes, by a deficit of 30-35 students each year. She added that despite the apparent exodus, Manchester has the highest retention rate of resident students (94.3%) when compared to other comparable districts in the state.

"We also take in more school of choice students from other districts than we lose resident students to other districts," she said. "I do know that both the low birth rates in Washtenaw County and the number of families leaving the state have affected us."

Despite the seeming disparity in enrollment, Vannatter provided information showing that the district currently has 52 resident students attending other school districts, with 110 non-resident students from other districts attending Manchester Community Schools.

Vannatter also defended the district's performance, pointing out that state and national assessment tests show that Manchester students are still above the norm, "We know that based on our test scores, Manchester students are performing above state averages," she said. "Approximately 98% of our students graduate and 85% percent of our graduates go on to attend college. We strive to provide high quality, 21st century instruction with the vision of our students being college- and career-ready by the time they graduate from high school."

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.