HOLLAND A group of middle school students is looking to use poetry to share what they’ve learned about the refugee crisis with the community.
A class of English Language Arts students in the Hope College Program for the Academically Talented at Hope (PATH) has been studying the global refugee crisis through various texts, including the novel “Refugee” by Alan Gratz.
The unit was guided by three essential questions:
“What causes cruelty between people of different nations?”
“How does empathy contribute to human understanding?”
“What is an effective response to social injustice?”
To culminate the learning experience, students wrote poems reflecting on the experience, which will be shared in upcoming editions of The Sentinel.
In-person or virtual meetings? Local boards differ on COVID orders
Are local boards and councils allowed to hold in-person meetings in a time where the state is restricting indoor gatherings? It depends on who you ask.
While one local board is asking the state to allow it to meet in person, others already are.
During the Hamilton Community Schools Board of Education meeting Monday, Feb. 8, the board approved a resolution to send to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asking that the state allow school boards to meet in person, if they so choose.
Local schools enrollments show little change in second Count Day
Local schools reported little change in enrollment from their fall count numbers on second Count Day of the school year Wednesday, Feb. 10.
Each year, the state requires school districts to hold two Count Days one in October and one in February. These counts are used to determine how much funding districts get from the state as schools are given state funding for each student.
In a typical year, the fall count determines 90 percent of a school’s per-pupil funding and the remaining 10 percent comes from the winter count. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year is different.
HOLLAND Holland Public Schools approved ballot language for a $74.65 million bond proposal in May that would, if endorsed by voters, result in a lower tax rate for the district.
The proposal, which will appear on the May 4 ballot, manages to generate significant funding while lowering the 2020 tax rate by renewing debt that is otherwise set to expire.
The 2020 local tax rate was 4.98 mills. If the bond is approved, the 2021 tax rate will lower by .25 mills to 4.73. If the bond fails, the tax rate will drop to 3.15 mills.
Board members voted unanimously to approve the ballot language during a study session meeting Monday, Feb. 8.