[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/1...37500507266.txt

MCAS down 93 students

By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 5:19 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — Michigan City Area Schools’ enrollment continued to drop for the 2010-2011 school year with a loss of 93 students, according to a report prepared by district officials.

There are now 6,225 kindergarten through 12th-grade students in the school district, according to the official student count completed Sept. 17. Last school year, there were 6,318.

With each student lost, so is approximately $7,000.

Indiana Department of Education statistics show the district has been losing about 1,000 students each decade since the 1980s.

“It’s good news and bad news for us,” school board President Jim Kintzele said. “Good news because we anticipated losing more students than we actually did, bad news because we’re in a steady decline, but there are many reasons for it.”

Administrators originally expected about 120 fewer students this year.

The newly competitive nature of K-12 education could be taking its toll as students move to out-of-town public schools or private schools, school board member Jeff Jones said. La Lumiere, a Catholic high school in La Porte, has increased its enrollment 30 percent over the past three years. Renaissance Academy, a K-8 Montessori school, has gained more than 100 students in the past two years.

“We are in a market-driven economy as far as the schools are concerned. The portability of tuition funding allows students to attend any school district they want,” Jones said. “Like (Superintendent Barbara) Eason-Watkins has said, we need to become competitive. We need to put our best foot forward with the changes we are making, and my vision is within a year or two people will choose Michigan City because of the quality of programs we have to offer.”

But the general population of Michigan City is declining, Kintzele said. According to U.S. Census population estimates, the city could be home to fewer than 33,000 residents when the 2010 Census is published.

“If you don’t have the bodies, numbers won’t increase,” he said. “Michigan City in general is not growing.”

The loss of jobs in the community is likely to blame for that, Jones said, but the effect trickles down to schools when families move to look for work. The city also has had a large population of people with children who tend to move around frequently, he said. Birth rates also are declining.

“Where I work at Indiana University, we are expecting to see a lower number of high-schoolers graduating after this year. Here, we expect to see in four or five years the effects of people having fewer children because of the recession,” Jones said. “All of that affects how much you can spend and it will have to be less.”

Eason-Watkins said the district will continue to focus on providing a quality education.

“That is my first priority, to take care of the students we have,” she said.

[Ang]

In my opinion, the rate of population is declining because the quality of life in MC is declining. There are many things the "Powers that Be" could do to drastically improve Michigan City, but I see their efforts being focused elsewhere. For example, does Michigan City REALLY need another park? Me thinks not! But it sure could use some small businesses/factories to provide jobs. So, instead of spending time and money to provide a park (that's only going to need police supervision to prevent vandals, which will, in turn, cause people to hate and complain about MCPD more than they do now) they should be out in the world looking for businesses that would like to come here to operate.
They should try to find occupants for all the empty buildings in town, there are so many more every year... Contact retail establishments to fill up Marquette Mall... etc.
Granted, getting business to come here has to factor in the quality of our schools, so it's hand in hand, but people right now aren't looking past the town, much less considering the state of MCAS.

I believe our new Super has a vision that will put MCAS in an extremely positive light, but that's going to take time, and the City should do its part now--not wait for schools to improve.