Island School Will Get Saving Paradise Fund
Program Brought $84,000 To School District Last Year
By Karen Gould

Mackinac Island Public School students can expect to see the benefits of “Saving Paradise” funding again this year, said Superintendent Jack Dehring during the school board meeting Thursday, October 27. Though the amount the school will receive is not being made available, Mr. Dehring said he expects it will be similar to last year, which was $84,546.

The special supplemental fund is part of the state aid bill that was passed in 2004 to help geographically isolated school districts. To receive the funding assistance, schools need to offer classes for kindergarten through 12th grade and have fewer than 250 students. They also must meet at least one of the following criteria: the district has to be located in the Upper Peninsula at least 30 miles from another public school, or the district must be on an island that is not accessible by bridge.

In other business, an adjustment was made to Mackinac Island graduation requirements. Upon Mr. Dehring’s recommendation, board members approved moving the health class out of the science department and made it a stand-alone class. Mr. Dehring said that to keep the class in the science department, the school would need to hire a highly qualified health teacher, since those credentials are not held by the current teaching staff. The easiest solution, he noted, was to move the class to its own category.

Students will continue to be required to take the class.

The class shift will increase the required classes students must take from 18 to 19, but does not affect total graduation credit hour requirements.

During the September board meeting, members had approved an increase in graduation requirements by one credit hour, for a total of 26 credits. Students now are required to receive four credits in mathematics, science, social studies, and English.

A property issue dispute that had been going on for approximately a year with Tom Corrigan has been resolved, with the school receiving a $1,200 check to cover attorney fees from Mr. Corrigan. The disagreement centered on ownership of an alleyway between the school and Mr. Corrigan’s property. During a school board meeting in February it was reported the city and school, along with Mr. Corrigan, had worked out a deal allowing the school and city to keep the alleyway and Mr. Corrigan to keep property that lies on the other side of an existing fence that separates the school and Mr. Corrigan’s property.

Mr. Dehring updated the board on the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) tests. He said the state extended the testing window by two weeks because of errors discovered state-wide, including missing materials, and errors in both instruction manuals and test booklets. He said the school had received one incorrect test booklet form.

“The third grade test had some questions that asked students to refer to the gray area, and the entire test was printed in red,” said Mr. Dehring.