Schools to be affected by loss of migrant population

The former DuRussel potato farm appears deserted and the entrance is blocked. Migrant families who had worked here earlier in the summer have left for other opportunities, and the schools are facing an $80,000 loss of state revenue this year due to the decreased enrollment of migrant students.

The former DuRussel farm in Freedom Township has long hired a significant number of migrant workers to help throughout the summer growing season. The workers have traditionally included a number of young families, and some families have been coming to Manchester each summer for generations.

A federally-funded summer program has provided fun, educational opportunities, and noon meals for the youngest migrant pupils while parents worked in the fields, and also provided summer jobs for local residents. And the influx of students has provided additional state funding for the school district as the migrants are normally still attending school at the time of the fall count days, while their parents stay for harvest.

“The 2016 summer migrant program, which had 24 school age migrant students in attendance, ended July 29,” said Manchester Community Schools Superintendent, Cherie Vannatter. “But [due to the closure of the farm] we do not know if there will be any migrant families living/working at the farm next summer, so we are not able to make plans for the 2017 summer migrant program.”

Over the years, the number of migrant families, and therefore students, has steadily declined, Vannatter added. At one time, the district enrolled about 70 students per year. The financial loss to the district has been disheartening, since state funding is tied to twice-annual enrollment counts.

“We are able to count any students in attendance on the fall and spring count days,” Vannatter stated. “The blended count will be those in attendance on October 5, 2016 and last year’s spring count, which was in February.”

Schools receive 90% of the foundation allowance for the fall count and 10% of the foundation allowance based on the previous spring count. Migrant students are usually in attendance for the fall count, but not the spring count. This year Manchester’s foundation allowance per pupil will be $7,511 per student, which means the district would receive $6,760 for each student in attendance on October 5, 2016.

“Last fall we were able to count 13 migrant students,” Vannatter said. “This year, we only have one remaining migrant student who will attend the start of the school year. The loss of migrant students this year will cause the school district to have almost an $80,000 loss of revenue.”

As the farm began its shut-down, many of the families started leaving the area during the second and third weeks of July. Most, if not all, workers have now left the farm, and Laura Seyfried, director of the Community Resource Center in Manchester, said the CRC has been trying to help them find other work within nearby counties if the migrant families are interested in staying in Michigan until the end of the season.

“I have been in contact with the Migrant Specialist team at Lenawee County Dept. of Health and Human Services in Adrian,” Seyfried said. “There is temporary farm work available in the Adrian area right now and the Michigan Works office sent a representative to the WarAg Farm with the Migrant Specialist last Friday (Aug. 12).

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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.