UPDATE: Draft of Schools of Choice Mandate Shared with Michigan Legislators

The much-anticipated legislation has been introduced as part of a larger package of bills that are slated as educational reform by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Sen. Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair) introduced Senate Bill 624 Wednesday to the Michigan Legislature. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Education.

The committee is likely to have public hearings on the drafted bill and it will have to be passed by both the Senate and the House before being introduced to Snyder for his final stamp of approval. 

Additionally, Schools of Choice is part of a package of five drafted bills and its passage is contingent upon the passage of the other four. Those include Senate Bills 618, 619, 620 and 621, which seek to amend laws related to charter schools, to privatize teachers, cyber schools and school aid funding. 

Schools of Choice is a program that public school districts currently may opt in or out of that allows out-of-district students to enroll. Under the current system, districts have control over how to implement the program and to whom they want to offer the opportunity to enroll.

Senate Bill 624 essentially edits 1979 Public Act 94 that allowed public schools the option to invite out-of-district students to enroll in their district.

Rep. Andrew Kandrevas (D-Trenton) said he is not for the mandate and that districts should be able to decide if they want to invite students from other districts.

"I've heard from a lot parents in Trenton and not one has ever said 'If only we were a school of choice, that would solve all of our (financial) problems,'" Kandrevas said.

The draft of the newly introduced bill calls for local districts to determine their own capacity.

The bill would mean would have to open their doors to students outside the district for the first time in the district's history.

Interim Superintendent Larry Leapley said the legislation won't change anything at Trenton Public Schools because the schools are consistently at capacity.

"This mandate would not have a major effect on the Trenton Public Schools since due to our class sizes we would have few openings for school of choice students," Leapley said.

Although districts would still be determining capacity, the bill outlines a specific time frame in which it must be completed. According to the draft, the capacity for each grade, school and special program would be determined no later than the second Friday in August.

If there were seats open beyond those students in the district, districts would then be required to publish a list of the open seats by grades, schools and special programs.

Out-of-district students, which are limited to students within Michigan, would have 15 to 30 days to apply and the district would be required to notify those admitted no later than by the end of the first week of school. Districts will also be required to maintain a waiting list if there are more applicants than available seats. 

If enrollment changes before the school year begins or within the first week, districts must admit out-of-district students from the waiting list. If there are more open seats than those on the waiting list, and the district receives more applications further into the school year, the district may wait to enroll the student until the next semester or trimester.

Evaluating the mandate should be much easier for officials and state legislators now that there is a draft of the bill. Up to now, officials have found themselves unable to answer questions by parents and residents because the specified language was not available.