Because children are in their formative years, COVID-19 carried an especially large impact on K-12 schools, according to national studies and statistics.
Beyond that, in Saginaw city schools, the younger the students, the larger the consequences.
This was among findings in a Wednesday report from Superintendent Ramont Roberts to the Board of Education, exploring the years that were pre-pandemic, during the shutdown and now emerging in recovery.
In general, elementary students showed the largest dropoffs on concerns that range from state test scores to attendance.
More than a year of closed schools with the new element of at-home virtual learning, said Roberts, created “large amounts of unstructured time” that planted seeds for misbehavior.
As a result, remedial emphasis must instill guidance on “how to conduct themselves in a learning environment,” said the fourth-year school chief, who started only months before the pandemic hit full force.
Truancy officers?
Overall into the upper grades, attendance dipped from 91 percent pre-covid to 80 percent currently, reflecting a shortfall that officially is described as “chronic,” applying to pupils who miss two or more days per month.
The report did not address tardiness, which prior educators often described as almost worse than a total absence, when a pupil arrives around 10 a.m., falling behind and also disrupting classes.
This is an area where educators won’t entirely blame the pandemic. Roberts vowed to tackle the problem by reaching out to police, prosecutors and judges, which would repeat sporadic efforts before his tenure that didn’t catch on.
Testing the test scores
In one way, the board’s dialogue was almost identical to pre-covid. This was regarding lower-than-average state test scores, with trustees repeating long-held criticism.
Joyce Seals, a retired specialist with the state Department of Education who commuted daily to Lansing, took the lead.
“These tests measure nothing more than a family’s education and income,” Seals said, citing socio-economic factors. Board President Charles Coleman and Roberts supported her outlook.
The former mayor added, “We’re not making excuses,” countering a frequent criticism of the poverty analysis.
One stumbling block is varying difficulties in tests, depending on subject matter, with far lower scores in science compared to social studies, for example.
Another unexplained difference is scores going through major changes year by year. In ninth-grade math, for example, about half of pupils were “proficient” in language arts and math in 2021, compared to only about 25 percent the year prior and the year after. Roberts described this as an “anomaly” that represents flaws in the test preparation and administration, rather than within the test-takers.
One vivid statistic is that 73 percent of students at Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, SASA, were rated tops in college preparedness, while only 4 percent achieved this status at Arthur Hill and 1 percent (a single pupil) at Saginaw High. Roberts described SAT and ACT as so tainted that most colleges have sharply reduced using the scores as a basis for admissions.
Neither the board nor the superintendent discussed similar differences between SASA and the two traditional high schools, which will merge into Saginaw United in 2024-25.
Costs skyrocket
Speaking of Saginaw United, the cost of the new high school on the riverfront has reached $85 million, up from $62 million estimated when voters approved a 6-mill bond in 2020, costing most homeowners somewhere between $100 and $400 annually. The new Handley School for gifted and talented youngsters is pegged at $24.5 million, nearly double the $13.9 million projection.
Other gaps are more narrow — $18.4 million, up from $15.2M, to convert Arthur Hill into a new SASA, and $13.9 million, not $9M, to repurpose a portion of Saginaw High into a middle school.
All together, rounding off, the total $100 million from the vote three years ago has skyrocketed to $140 million. Administrators cite major reasons as inflation and supply tie-ups.
In this case, covid is an odd sort of savior. Instead of asking voters for another $40 million, or making major cutbacks, the district is paying the huge unexpected costs through ESSER, Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief, an ARPA equivalent for schools aimed at pandemic relief. However, money for the building overruns is taken from what otherwise could have been added classroom activities and remedial education.
A deadline for first ESSER reports to the federal government is the end of this calendar year, adding to the board’s urgency.
