School board members in Traverse City could vote tonight on whether to offer foreign language to elementary students.
They will consider a smaller pool of options. Language wouldn’t be taught in kindergarten, first or second grades, or in place of art or music classes.
Parents also won’t be given the choice of elective classes, including language, art, music and physical education.
Adding language in a deficit situation will come at the expense of other programs.
“We need to demonstrate that we’re trying to be responsible, we’re listening,” Traverse City Area Public Schools Superintendent Steve Cousins said.

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Local residents with connections to Japan say they are concerned about friends who live there and worried about the fate of thousands displaced after the 9.0-magnitude quake and resulting tsunami. 

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Traverse City Area Public Schools’ policy against bullying is poised for an upgrade to include specific protection on the basis of sexual orientation, height, weight, marital status and genetic information. Proposed language also adds the word “stalking” to the list of banned behaviors. Board members have seen a draft and will take it up again in April, when they expect to vote. Several students, graduates, parents and teachers addressed them this week and supported the effort, and urged stricter penalties for offenders.

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Groups of parents, teachers and administrators have started to generate suggestions for budget cuts that would reduce millions of dollars from Traverse City’s public schools. West and East middle schools will host brainstorming sessions today. Sessions for high schools and community members are scheduled in early April. To join an upcoming group, contact Keena Tibbetts, in Superintendent Steve Cousins’ office, at 933-1725.

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Administrators at Northwestern Michigan College plan to expand the aviation program from 120 to 200 students by 2014. The goal is to decrease the program’s reliance on general fund subsidies and make it self-sufficient, since students pay flight fees in addition to tuition.

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Michigan schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan wants local public school districts to identify military students for the state in an attempt to connect them with needed support services.

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Like transportation before it, another department could be chopped from Suttons Bay’s schools amid a budget crunch. The district is in talks with Traverse City Area Public Schools about consolidating food service next year. Suttons Bay Superintendent Mike Murray said giving some food service responsibilities to TCAPS could save his district at least $25,000. The department has a budget of roughly $260,000.

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Members of the nonprofit Yuba Historic Society are fundraising to restore the 140-year-old Yuba School in Grand Traverse County’s Acme Township. They want to turn the two-room schoolhouse, currently owned by Elk Rapids Schools, into a museum and community center.

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Legislation pending in the state House takes aim at public employee unions, calling for required privatization of educational support services and an end to retroactive wage increases in negotiated contracts. Two separate bills in the state House would require school districts to privatize some support services starting in June 2012, and freeze compensation levels for employee unions as they negotiate new contracts. Some school and union officials said the bills would hinder local control. Rep. Ray Franz, R-Onekama, co-sponsor of both bills, said they are designed to help school districts offset potentially significant revenue cuts and give equal weight to both sides at the bargaining table.

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More budget cuts are on the horizon for Traverse City Area Public Schools. The magnitude has yet to be set, but spending reductions could total as much as $7.1 million for the 2011-12 school year. Focus groups will convene this month to develop a list of recommendations.

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