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GR school hopes to keep state funds
Leader: GRAPCEP funding back in budget plans
Updated: Monday, 02 May 2011, 11:01 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 02 May 2011, 11:01 PM EDT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Funding for the Grand Rapids science, technology, engineering and math specialty high school GRAPCEP is back in state budget proposals circulating in Lansing, school leaders said Monday, and they want to keep it that way.
The program -- a partnership between Davenport University and Grand Rapids Public Schools -- gets about 70% of its funding from the state, executive director Sandra Burmeister told the Grand Rapids school board Monday night. She said the state provided about $340,000 for this year. But money for GRAPCEP was deleted in Gov. Rick Snyder's initial budget proposal.
Legislative proposals include funding for the program, she said.
"The funds aren't very big when you look at the state budget," Burmeister said, "and our return on revenue is huge because we are preparing the STEM -- the science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- workforce of the future, which is essential to the state economy. And we have the proven track record that I think people should take a good look at."
The school boasts a 99% graduation rate and a 99% college enrollment rate, according to Burmeister's presentation, despite the fact that about 86% of the students in GRAPCEP -- located inside Creston High School -- qualify for free or reduced lunch.
To keep GRAPCEP successful, Burmeister, who is retiring, also asked the board for help getting scheduling straightened out more efficiently at the beginning of the year. And she said it would be helpful if teachers had fewer out-of-classroom teacher development responsibilities.
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