A New Esports Record!
Since the inception of the Michigan High School Esports League in 2020, we’ve seen tremendous growth season after season, year after year. Now that our league is FREE TO COMPETE, we have just shattered our enrollment records for our Spring 2024 season, which is now underway. 164 enrolled schools with more than 800 teams are engaging roughly 3,000 students across the state; MHSEL continues to be Michigan’s largest and most substantial high school…
An Overview of the Amendments to Teacher Evaluations
This article unravels the latest amendments to Revised School Code Section 1249, which regulates the future of teacher evaluations for the 2024-25 school year and beyond. On December 29, 2023, Governor Whitmer signed PA 224 of 2023 (PA 224), which amends Revised School Code (RSC) Section 1249 and modifies the legal requirements for teacher evaluations as of July 1, 2024. The amended statute outlines new requirements for a school’s performance evaluation system. …
QUICK TIPS MARCH | Set Up Your Staff for Scheduling Success
By the time March comes in like a lion, it's necessary to have a strong plan in place to have scheduling be as tame as a lamb. As you prepare to create a Master Schedule, take some tips from your Board of Directors to set yourself and your staff up for scheduling success. When creating the Master Schedule consider your singletons (i.e., band, choir, AP, etc.). It is essential that these classes…
March Holidays & Recognition Days
National Women’s History Month, MarchWomen's History Month is an annual observance dedicated to celebrating the contributions and achievements of women throughout history. It is celebrated each March and is a time to reflect on the significant roles women have played in shaping society, culture, politics and various fields of work. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, including the United States, the UK, Australia and Canada. In the United States,…
Engaging the Disengaged
Each month, building principals in Portage Public Schools gather for a sometimes lengthy meeting where we discuss policies, practices and all the things that impact our day-to-day lives. In our most recent meeting, one of our building principals put a topic on the agenda that all of us are dealing with in schools, truancy. The systems that have been in place for years in many of our districts are ill-equipped to deal with…
Raising Voices to Drive School Quality: Webinar Recap
In Michigan, there is currently no uniform measurement of students’ well-being nor a common way to evaluate student engagement and the impact of related services and interventions for students beyond standardized test scores. Yet the research is crystal clear about the significant role that student engagement and student belonging has on student success. Engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say they do well in school and 4.5 times more likely…
Gov’s Budget: Moderate Increases to Core Funding, Expands Scope of Public Ed
Governor Whitmer's Executive Budget Proposal for the 2024-25 fiscal year is out. The proposal includes moderate 2.5% ongoing increases for the major core line items schools rely on like the foundation allowance, At Risk, and special education funding. The big focus of new investment in the Governor's budget was expanding the scope of public education beyond K-12 to encompass universal pre-K for 4-year-olds and tuition-free community college for all high school graduates,…
Supreme Court Grants Leave to Appeal in ORS Lawsuit
The Michigan Supreme Court has granted MASA's motion to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeals in Batista v. ORS and will hear the appeal on an expedited schedule. The Court is scheduling oral arguments for April and we are hopeful that the expedited timeline will mean principals and other school administrators get some resolution sooner rather than later. While the Michigan Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, they denied MASA's motion…
Clarification on Administrator Certification Renewal
At MASSP's AP Summit this past week, attendees got the advice that they try to align the renewals of their teacher and administrator certificates so that they can count the same education-related professional learning toward renewing both certificates. That prompted some calls to MDE, some confusion when callers were told alignment wasn't necessary, and some deeper digging by MASSP. Bottom line: holding a valid professional teaching certificate satisfies the continuing education requirements…
MCAN Provides Clarity on FSA’s Changes to FAFSA Free or Reduced-Price School Lunch Guidance
The Office of Federal Student Aid released updated FAFSA guidance on which students should indicate they receive free or reduced-price school lunch. While all Michigan public school students are currently eligible for free lunch through state-level funding, students are now advised to check the box for receiving free or reduced-price school lunch ONLY if their annual household income falls below $60,000 to comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture income eligibility guidelines.The updated FAFSA guidance…