Michigan’s economic crunch is being felt by everyone, including the Southfield Public Schools. Last school year numerous teachers in the district were laid off, and with the declining enrollment in Southfield Public Schools, more layoffs are inevitable.
Over the past several years enrollment in Southfield Public Schools has been steadily declining. In the 2003-2004 school year, the district housed 10,256 students, compared to the current 2009-2010 school year’s 8,854 students. That’s a decrease of 1,755 students, or 27%, in six years.
The district projects the decline will continue and that in the 2013-2014 school year, there will only be 7,413 students.
Deputy Superintendent Ken Siver says combinations of reasons are responsible for the enrollment decline. The decline in the birth rate in Michigan is a large factor, he says. The birth rate has been declining for the past 13 years. There just aren’t as many students in Michigan as there used to be, says Siver.
Siver says he knows enrollment will decrease because there are approximately 250 more seniors enrolled this year as there are kindergartners who entered Southfield Public Schools this year. There are 729 seniors expected to graduate this year, and only 477 kindergartners who entered the district.
Siver cites numerous other reasons why enrollment has been declining. The ailing Michigan economy has been forcing families out of state in search of jobs. Also, some parents are choosing to send their children to charter schools instead of public schools. There are eight charter schools in Southfield; this is more charter schools than any other city in Oakland County has.
The housing crisis is another factor that contributes to the decline of students in Southfield Public Schools. Many families are being forced out of their homes due to foreclosure. These families are forced to move, often out of state, in search of new housing.
Declining enrollment isn’t a problem unique to the Southfield school district. The Royal Oak, Pontiac and Detroit public school districts are a few of the districts that have had to close schools recently because of declining enrollment.
Open enrollment has been another contributing factor as to why Southfield Public Schools is losing students, says Siver. Some Southfield students have chosen to leave the district and to go to neighboring school districts.
Junior Kelsey Walker is one who opted out of Southfield Public Schools after middle school. She says, “My parents wanted me to go to Renaissance (High School, in Detroit) over a Southfield public school. Renaissance has a better reputation locally and nationally for being an outstanding high school.”
To help combat the loss of students, the district has opened up University High School – a school for the gifted – to keep students in the district who might have otherwise journeyed to schools such as Cass Technical High School or Renaissance. The move seems to be working. At present, University High School has 173 ninth and tenth graders, 40 of whom did not attend a Southfield public middle school.
Senior Heiress Catchings says, “The declining enrollment has a lot to do with the bad reputations of some of the Southfield Public Schools. When I tell people I go to Southfield High, they always think it’s a ghetto school when it’s really not like that. I love Southfield. I left here and went to Groves High School (in Birmingham) and came back because I missed Southfield so much.”
One problem with declining enrollment is declining money to run the schools, Siver says. Fewer students equates to less money for the district, which means fewer resources. Last school year, the district was given $11,235 per student, and this year the district is being given $10,952 per student. This is a significant cut in funding. This accompanies the $1.4 million cut to Hold Harmless Funds., which are extra dollars that are not ear-marked for any specific use.
With fewer students and less money, there is a smaller need for teachers and facilities.
An improvement in the Michigan economy could turn around or slow down some of these trends, Siver says. But even with an economic upturn, the district should expect more teacher layoffs in the coming years in response to the other factors affecting enrollment.