The Buena Vista School District reopened on Monday after closing for two weeks due to a financial crisis.
Of the 400 students that attended the school district before the closure, 77.5 percent have returned, according to Lindsay Knake at MLive:
Superintendent Deborah Hunter-Harvill said the there are 339 students back in school this week, including 151 students at Doerr Child Development Center, 97 students at Phoenix Science & Technology Center and 91 students at the high school. "We have to keep working to receive high school students back," she said. The high school had about 160 students prior to the school closings, and is missing 40 to 50 students including the 25 graduating seniors, Hunter-Harvill said. There are 29 students missing at Doerr and 10 missing at Phoenix. "Come back to us," Hunter-Harvill asked students at a community meeting on Tuesday, May 21. "Believe in us."
Knake also reports that five employees who were laid off were recalled:
At the Tuesday meeting, the board members voted to recall five laid off staff members, including two para-professionals, two non-hour classroom helpers and two bus chaperons. All positions except the chaperons are paid through with grant money, and the chaperons are funded through the district's general fund.
The district is contending with a $1 million budget deficit.
If you’re just starting to follow the story, you can find Michigan Radio’s coverage on the school district at this link.
- Julia Field, Michigan Radio Newsroom
