NEWS

Albion options: More than annex or dissolve

Safiya Merchant
Battle Creek Enquirer

ALBION - While Marshall Public Schools' potential annexation of Albion Public Schools has dominated the conversation about Albion's future, some have thrown their support behind another plan that would eventually return local control to Albion.

If Albion Public Schools voters approve annexing their district to Marshall Public Schools, the Albion district would be essentially absorbed into Marshall's territory, making Marshall larger in size and population.

For several months, school leaders in Albion and Marshall have told residents that if they don't vote for annexation, they run the risk of seeing their school district dissolved. Local and state officials have worked to stifle discussion of alternatives, and have maintained the focus should stay on annexation.

But in the days before Monday's anticipated vote by the Albion Board of Education to put annexation of the school district to Marshall on the May ballot, others have been saying a proposal from Jackson Public Schools for a shared-services plan should be explored. In the proposal, the Jackson district would operate a school in Albion for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, allow Albion to pay off its staggering operational debt and give the struggling school district a second chance to survive on its own.

The state has thrown its support behind the annexation proposal, recently awarding Marshall a $4.2 million grant to help pay for annexation-related costs. Officials have indicated the grant money will be used to help pay down Albion's $3.1 million debt.

Other community members say Jackson's idea, which has not yet been formally presented by Albion's board to the public, has strengths that Marshall's plan does not possess.

"I think it's the best one that's been offered so far," Albion school district resident Shawna Gamble said. "It allows us to get ourselves out of debt without destroying our district."

The current landscape 

Back in 1837, Albion Public Schools was born with the opening of a little red schoolhouse.

More than 150 years and several school closures later, Albion Public Schools is back to one schoolhouse, with only one K-5 building in use, on Watson Street. The former Crowell Elementary is used for area early childhood programs, while Harrington and Caldwell schools sit empty.

In 2013, as its financial woes grew, the district approved a cooperative agreement with Marshall to send its high school students to Marshall High School. That agreement was expanded to include middle schoolers last month.

If Albion Public Schools voters approve annexing their district to Marshall Public Schools, the Albion district would be essentially absorbed into Marshall's territory, making Marshall larger in size and population.

Now, the K-5 school district's enrollment has fallen below 400 students. Some classrooms were taught by substitutes this year, and the district superintendent's impending resignation was announced in December. As revenues have declined, the district's debt has ballooned.

To solve its problems, Albion is pursuing annexation with Marshall. Throughout the planning process, Marshall has maintained it hopes to keep a school building operating in Albion if annexation is approved.

Members of the Albion school board and district residents have expressed interest in the proposal from Jackson, 20 miles to the east.

Jackson's plan 

Under Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Beal's proposed shared-services agreement, the Albion Public Schools district and its board would still exist for the purpose of levying taxes, paying bills and maintaining facilities.

For the duration of the agreement, which is anticipated to be no more than five years, Jackson Public Schools would operate its own K-5 school in Albion that would be under the authority of the JPS board, Beal said.

Jackson would be in control of educational programming, curriculum, food service, transportation, custodial and staffing services during the length of the agreement. According to a draft of the proposal, Jackson would rent Crowell Elementary for up to $1 per year of the contract for the school. Students would be considered Jackson Public Schools students during this time.

The 28 special-needs children would be bused this fall to Crowell Elementary School in Albion.

"For Albion, the safety valve is  ... at the end of five years, Albion Public Schools would take over control of their own destiny, but they would have paid off their debt at that time and that gives them the opportunity to kind of guide their future," Beal said. "We look at this as a bridge between this financial hardship they've got in place now and a possible future where Albion Public Schools still exists."

Albion's current 18-mill, non-homestead property tax levy, which applies to commercial properties and busineses, would need to be renewed -- it could be on the August ballot -- to make the shared-services model work.

Beal estimates Albion earns about $1.5 million per year through the non-homestead tax. He said he envisions about $500,000 of that amount covering local obligations like maintenance, but that the $1 million left over would be used to pay down Albion's debt.

Meanwhile, Jackson would use the per-pupil foundation allowance given by the state for each Albion student -- it's $7,391 this year -- mainly to pay for programming and services at Crowell. According to the draft proposal, Jackson would invest a minimum of $100,000 in Crowell for curriculum and aesthetic improvements. Beal said no funds from Jackson's existing budget would be used to operate the Albion school.

Beal said he thinks this plan can be financially viable if 200 Albion students enroll during the shared-services venture.

Beal said he's had multiple conversations with the Michigan Department of Treasury about this proposal.

"I think that they believe that they don't see hurdles that they can't overcome," Beal said.

During the period of the shared-services agreement, Beal estimates Jackson Public Schools would see a profit of $300,000 to $400,000 per year that would be funneled into Jackson's own operating budget.

"This is a business deal and I've never pretended it's anything but," Beal said. "We believe that at 200 kids, that Jackson Public Schools will generate a profit for JPS, so this will be funds that will be able to help students, teachers and programming or materials or facilities here within Jackson."

After five years, the plan calls for Jackson to exit and Albion Public Schools to resume K-5 operations.

"Most of us have grown up in a world where we're very afraid of running out of money and so we end up watching our neighbors close and hoping we can just pick up the kids," Beal said. "... This is kind of a unique plan where we go in and we say 'I think we can bridge your deficit, help you and help us at the same time.' But in just a few years, we can pull ourselves free from this situation and allow Albion to take control of its own destiny again."

A viable option? 

To Gamble, annexing or dissolving Albion Public Schools would have the same outcome: her community district would disappear. Although Marshall has indicated it wants to keep a school in Albion, Gamble said she believes Marshall has never made a promise on this issue.

"But (the Jackson proposal) not only allows our district to remain but it allows us to pay off our debt while having the opportunity to still serve our children here," Gamble said. "That's a guarantee, not a hope. ... And it's helping us, it's not taking us over."

Albion Public Schools already has a cooperative agreement with Marshall Public Schools to send its middle and high school students to learn in Marshall. Marshall would gain all of Albion's students through annexation.

Albion Board of Education member Sonya Brown said she can see more positives in Jackson's proposal than in annexation. One of those positives, she said, is eventually returning local control to Albion.

"Annexation is a permanent loss," Brown said. "And to make a rushed decision to permanently hand over your control, that is concerning to me."

Brown said she is not convinced annexation should have been the first resort for the Albion Board of Education. She said she believes it should have diligently sought other options.

"I'm saying 'let's let the community know what options are out there,'" Brown said. "And they're going to decide May 3 if they want to be annexed or not. But at least give them all the information before you send them to the polls."

Other local school officials were skeptical of the Jackson proposal.

While Marshall Board of Education President Richard Lindsey said the proposal needs to be fleshed out, he believes it does not appear viable because of its financial implications.

"I guess I would encourage (Albion) to examine all the options," Lindsey said. "It doesn't address the debt issue the way that Marshall would address it through annexation."

In annexation, Marshall has indicated Albion's debt would be erased with the state grant. In Jackson's proposal, the debt would still need to be paid off by the Albion tax base over the years.

Calhoun Intermediate School District Superintendent Terance Lunger also approached Jackson's proposal with skepticism.

"I would question sustainability of anybody coming in from the outside, especially when they're not connected to this county," Lunger said. "... I would want to look at the business model and determine its viability."

Lunger also stressed the difference in long-term commitment between the two plans. While Jackson is discussing a five-year plan, Lunger said Marshall is "talking about a sustained, long-term relationship providing the best possible educational opportunities for those kids."

"The difference is they're coming with a comprehensive plan to serve students and not just carving off a piece of it," Lunger said. "They're proposing a K-16, regional educational model, which would be a model for others to follow."

Lunger said unless the Jackson proposal proves viable, he believes it "muddies the waters for people on a very confusing, on a very emotional issue."

"This is about Albion kids getting the best possible educational experience period," Lunger said. "And when you have other people that come in, or other organizations that come in, that may have financial motives, I have a problem with that unless they can demonstrate how this is going to benefit the kids of Albion Public Schools in that community."

Albion school board President Vivian Davis said while the treasury department has indicated the Jackson proposal can be presented to the board, she does not believe the state would say the proposal is a viable option at this time.

"Treasury tells us if someone out there has something that's better than annexation, they think it's better, listen to them," Davis said. "If you think it's better as a board, present it to the state. So I don't think they're limiting us to not look at something, but I think the expectations are that we would give due diligence to annexation because of their faith that they have in the structure of the system."

Treasury department spokesman Terry Stanton said in an email to the Enquirer that the department's office of school review and fiscal accountability will "support the Albion school board's decision on the matter of possible annexation to Marshall."

"Unless or until a final outcome is determined it would be imprudent to discuss any other hypotheticals," Stanton said.

Beal said he doesn't want his proposal to be a source of division in the Albion community.

"... If the Jackson proposal is used to divide the community and annexation is what's in the best interest of the community, then I've hurt the community of Albion and I would feel bad about doing that," Beal said. "If the community of Albion is not interested in annexation and goes a different direction, then Jackson is certainly willing to help out with that. But my goal, and the goal of Jackson Public Schools, is not to divide or tear apart this annexation goal or this annexation opportunity. It's a tremendous opportunity with the grant money that came from the state."

Behind the scenes

Although Jackson's draft proposal for its plan in Albion has been shared on social media, it has not been formally presented to the public in an Albion Board of Education meeting.

In a Feb. 2 email to the school board that was provided to the Enquirer, Albion board member Kevin Metz told his colleagues, "I am guessing you are aware, the JPS proposal has gone public. I would like to ask all of us to refrain from talking about it publicly."

"(Financial consultant Bruce Caswell), to the best of my knowledge is working on clarifying the financial facts associated with the JPS proposal, and other options available to the district," Metz wrote. "While JPS proposes several ideas, some of them may not be financially viable, and others may be limited by law. Bruce is looking into this. The result is that the publicized proposal may not actually be acceptable as written. I would like us to avoid commenting until we know the facts of this proposal as vetted by Bruce and Treasury. Avoiding public discussion will limit the possibility that we misspeak on the topic and misrepresent options to the public."

At a Wednesday night board training session with Mary Kerwin, a senior consultant with the Michigan Association of School Boards, the Albion board talked at length about presenting information to the public.

Board member Nels Christensen said although it makes sense that a board cannot advocate at the same time "for two things," he said he believed that that did not mean that they can't work on the details of both.

"It feels like it's our job not to fantasize about what that result is going to be," Christensen said. "Therefore, we need to be thinking and doing work on what we might do when we're faced with, if annexation doesn't pass."

Kerwin said that would interfere with the current annexation course of action, since those discussions can only take place in public meetings.

"Then what we have is the media that's here with us and so they go out and say exactly what's happening here, which is consideration of alternatives," Kerwin said.

Board member Shane Williamson said although he supports annexation, presenting other options is important.

"... In order to earn the public's trust on anything, it seems responsible of this board to present them with options or choices," Williamson said. "I think (Albion Assistant Superintendent/Principal Joni Parks) said it best earlier about choices. Maybe they're not all viable options but they're choices that people can make, and make the case for whatever it is the board has already decided. And give people the opportunity to look at it all and see what the cause and effect will be of any decision we make."

"I would much rather run out of here with a big annexation button on my shirt and start getting people to vote this way, OK, but I understand we need to earn the votes of people like Sonya or people who are raising hell about it in the community," Williamson added.

During the discussion, Williamson also indicated state officials have been sending mixed messages to the community and school officials.

"...There are several times that the state has looked at us behind closed doors and said 'you're not going to open a school' and I still stand by that statement," he said. "They do, they do this all the time, they get one of us in a room, they say you're not opening a school, and then they get out in front of everybody and they say 'well just give us a plan, you can give us a 10-year, 15-year plan,' giving our community false hope and making us all look dumb."

In response to Brown's question about whether it was wrong for a board member to disseminate information that didn't align with the board's decisions, Metz said it "puts the appearance that the board is going in two ways at once; that's bad."

"The other things is what Nels (Christensen) always said, which I think is that our responsibility or our goal, either way you want to look at it, should be to disseminate fact," Metz said. "And so ... the fact is JPS submitted a proposal. And I can say that JPS submitted a proposal. I cannot say that this is Plan B right? And the reason I can't is two-fold. One, I don't want someone to misquote me in thinking that when I say this is Plan B, that the board has accepted this as Plan B or adopted as Plan B. And two, because that proposal has yet to be vetted, right, I don't know, there's some things in that proposal that when I read the law are in contradiction to the law."

"... My point is that, I agree, if annexation fails and we've done nothing, we're in a world of hurt, I'm with you there," Metz later said. "And so we need to look at other options. But before we tell people there are other options, I want to know that is actually an option."

At the end of the conversation, Williamson asked Kerwin if she advised ignoring the Jackson proposal.

"If we ignore the thing that's in the room and do what you're saying, OK, that's giving the lingering hope, that is probably false, as you know, as many of us know, that there's an alternative, so are you suggesting that we just ignore that thing and go towards annexation?" Williamson asked. "Is that your professional opinion for us to do?"

Kerwin responded: "That's what Treasury is counting on. This came in late, it didn't fit the timeline, that other thing didn't fit."

Although Caswell is slated to bring an analysis of options back to the board, which Christensen said is in essence "dealing with this thing," he told Kerwin he was not sure she completely understood some board members' viewpoint on this issue.

"If we decide we're not going to talk about x or y and only talk about annexation, we have to be ready for a kind of public reaction that is distrustful of what we're not saying," Christensen said. "I think our problem is not that we're worried about building a kind of false hope by providing information. I think that's our risk. I think the risk is building aggressive distrust by the perception of our withholding or not doing our jobs."

Contact Safiya Merchant at 269-966-0684 or smerchant@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SafiyaMerchant