K-8 / B-8 Schools

As most know, a Michigan Public School District’s primary revenue comes from student head-count, such that the State allocates funds to each District based on the number of students each District has respectively. With the BPS District losing about 50 students per year from its general population, over the course of about 6 years, the District will have lost enough students to close another 300-student elementary building. It behooves us, therefore, to stave this trend by immediately adopting initiatives that lead the District in a direction of growth. Our primary goal is straightforward: Find ways to draw families to move into our District and to enroll their children in Birmingham Public Schools.

Convert BPS buildings to Kindergarten-8 (K-8) or Birth-8 (B-8) Public Schools.

I believe the most feasible way to accomplish this goal is to convert at least some of our BPS buildings to K-8 public schools—or better yet, B-8 public schools. Both scientific research and anecdotal data confirm that there is an overwhelming body of evidence in support of migrating from the middle school model toward the K-8/B-8 model. In fact, the evidence is so significant that countless school districts across the nation--in large and small cities, in conservative and liberal States, in wealthy and disadvantaged areas, and in rural, suburban, and urban areas—have systematically migrated to K-8 over the past 20 years. This is by no means a new phenomenon but is rather a well-researched and data-confirmed best practice direction.

Although the vast majority of districts across the nation that have migrated away from the middle school model--and towards the K-8 model—did so for academic achievement reasons, I suggest that there is ample support for adopting the K-8/B-8 model as a means of making public schools more desirable to current homeschool and private school families—thus, as a means of enhancing enrollment.

I would also include that even though the K-8 model is well established, I believe that extending the model to include Birth-8 is an excellent idea, worthy of serious consideration. Functionally, childcare would be included within the B-8 building. Moreover, I would be remiss if I did not mention that I first heard of the idea of a public school district offering services to families from birth--instead of just from Pre-K--through a very forward-thinking BPS Administrator.

Here are some further compelling reasons to consider migrating to a K-8/B-8 model sooner than later.

1. Most families that pull out of public schools do so when their kids are forced to go to a separate Middle School than the Elementary School that their kids were in. In fact, many parents report being terrified of the Middle School experience for their children. The K-8/B-8 solution squarely addresses this problem and removes one of the greatest motivating factors in families removing their children from public school (i.e. the fear of stand-alone middle schools).

2. Parents who have more than one grade-school-age child categorically prefer to drive to one school, instead of 2 or 3 schools every morning. Anecdotally, I can tell you that my wife and I have 4 children, and next Fall we will need to send our kids to 3 different BPS schools for elementary and middle school.

3. The religious community, as well as home school families, are far more likely to send their children to public schools, if all of their grade-school-age children can attend the same facility. This represents a tangible “comfort/safety” factor that needs to be recognized, if we are to welcome these families, which I contend are the District’s most likely target demographic for growth.

4. The District already has one 3-8 school, BCS, and there are over 400 students on the wait list. BCS is a huge success and at least one of those reasons is because the elementary and middle school grades are in the same facility.

5. Other Michigan Districts—as well as other States: NY, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, etc.--have also caught on to the benefits of K-8 public schools. Even neighboring Southfield has Birney, MacArthur, and Thompson schools that embrace this model--and, that does NOT include the Public Charter Schools.

6. Although a case could be made that a migration to K-8 is advantageous to student achievement, it is perhaps more so about creating a school community that draws new families to our District and into our public schools, as well as gives existing families another tangible reason to stay.

7. This direction would not likely cost the District any more than we presently spend, and research broadly supports the social and emotional benefits of K-8 public school communities.

8. When parents pull their children out of traditional public schools, where do they go? Although some families homeschool, most overwhelmingly send their kids to grade schools—both public and private—that keep as many of the grades together in one location as feasibly possible. There is no denying that K-8 Charter schools, K-8 Parochial schools (e.g. Catholic, Lutheran, etc.), K-8 Waldorf schools, and K-12 Evangelical schools are the normal landing spots for these families. A comparatively small number of students end up in expensive private academies and boarding schools such as Cranbrook, Detroit Country Day, and Liggett.

Consider this scenario. Let’s say you live on the west side of the BPS District off of Inkster. Would you be more likely to keep your children in the BPS District if, say, West Maple Elementary were a K-8/B-8 school and you did not have to drive the 8-mile round trip to Berkshire Middle School at least twice a day? Probably.

Consider another scenario. A family that either has children--or is anticipating starting a family--has the opportunity to move into the central Oakland County area. They can move into a home in the BPS District or a home in one of our neighboring Districts (Troy, Bloomfield Hills, etc.). If BPS has several, public K-8 or B-8 schools that foster a deep sense of community and character, that could be the very deciding factor that sets BPS apart from these other excellent Districts.

In short, the status quo of the BPS District’s operational model is not sufficient to even maintain our current levels, let alone promote growth. We can increase enrollment by giving our broader community better reasons to send their children to Birmingham Public Schools, and I believe converting facilities into close-knit, high character K-8/B-8 communities is an excellent option.