With the Benton Harbor Area Schools district bearing down on a financial and academic crisis that might significantly impact its ability to provide quality educational services to its students, the system needs to unite behind a single cause, and that is to provide the community’s children wit a quality education in a stable financial and academic environment. That was the message tonight from Benton Harbor CEO & Superintendent Dr. Robert Herrera.
During his public CEO/Superintendent meeting held tonight in the student commons at Benton Harbor High School, Dr. Herrera provided a State of the District review since he took the reins in July 2018, and he included in his report seven options for moving the district forward.
Saying, “We are at a crossroads where as a community we need to unite behind one, and only one, cause,” Herrera says that in the past seven months, the top priorities of his administrative team have been to get a handle on the district’s academic and financial issues and immediately put in place measures for improvements.
In the process, school leaders discovered that the district’s debt balloon would strike harder and faster than previously understood. The district’s short-term and long-term outstanding debt is more than $19 million. Based on current trends in declining enrollment and debt repayment the district may not be able to borrow additional funds after 2020.
Herrera told the community tonight, “Based on our true financial picture, the district’s financial strains will make it extremely difficult to provide quality educational services to our students over the next three years.” He adds that these financial strains have already impacted the quality of the education that Benton Harbor Area Schools have been able to provide over the past several years. A reduction in full-time permanent teachers, substandard academic resources and an overall poor learning environment have contributed to a declining graduation rate and the students’ low proficiency in the state’s academic standards.
They are currently ranked in the bottom 5-percent in all of Michigan, leading Herrera to suggest, “We must take bold steps to bring financial and academic stability back to Benton Harbor Area Schools,” adding, “This community can do it. They will be the benchmark for other struggling school districts.”
The seven moving forward options he presented tonight were:
- Option 1: Restructure Debt
- Option 2: The State Government appropriating $21.5 million from its budget
- Option 3: Dissolve the district and redistribute students to surrounding districts
- Option 4: Enter into a cooperative agreement with another school district
- Option 5: Contract with Berrien Regional Education Service Agency (RESA)
- Option 6: Create a teacher training school with a university
- Option 7: Create a public school academy (charter)
Some of those options will have more of a positive long-term impact than others, according to Dr. Herrera. The school board, he added, will be evaluating all options and be responsible for choosing a path to ensure the district’s future. Stay tuned.
