A student and two professors from Calvin College will travel the world next school year as Fulbright Scholars.  The three received the awards from the U.S. State Department.
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The state is considering eliminating funding for the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Poison Control Center in Grand Rapids, a move that could force the center to close, a Spectrum Health spokesman said.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s budget proposal cut state support for both poison centers that receive funds, including the one in Grand Rapids and one at the Detroit Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan. A spokeswoman for the governor said it was one of the many cuts proposed for all state departments. “It was an extremely painful budget,” said the spokeswoman, Megan Brown.

Some in the state House have considered consolidating state funding to support just one poison control center, the one in Detroit.

A Spectrum statement said the possible closure of the Grand Rapids center would not interrupt statewide poison control service.

The Poison Control Center at DeVos Children’s has an operating budget of $1.4 million, and 17 percent of it — $250,000 — is an annual subsidy from the state of Michigan, according to the Spectrum statement. Another 21 percent of the funding comes from the federal government and three percent is support from the United Way. But the majority of the center’s funding — roughly 60 percent — comes from DeVos Children’s itself and the Spectrum spokesman, Bruce Rossman, said the possible state funding cut would force the children’s hospital’s patients to subsidize the poison center.

The state subsidy covers an ever-decreasing share of the cost of the center as expenses continue to rise, Rossman said, “And if they’re going to put all their funding to one poison center, we can’t in good conscience continue to run this service.”

He stressed that Spectrum will not make a final decision on the status of the facility until the state’s funding plan is clear.

The Grand Rapids center employs 17 people, including some part-time workers, and two doctors who also work elsewhere at Spectrum Health. It is unclear how a possible closure would affect those employees, Rossman said.

The centers in Detroit and Grand Rapids already share the same phone number,  1-800-222-1222 .

GRPS passed budget parameters Monday night, including a school attendance level at which schools would be considered for closing or consolidation.  Below, a look at the other parameters, including class size, and list of who’s running to keep their seats and who’s looking to sit on the board.

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The impact of the proposed school staff retirement incentive, administrators and board members lobbying in D.C., the specifics on the Houseman field renovation and an official re-election announcement were among the topics at Monday’s Grand Rapids Public Schools board meeting.

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Grand Rapids Public Schools has set a series of open houses to connect would-be students and parents with the district’s new theme schools, high school speciality programs and expanded grade levels at Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy. (more…)

A new $1,000 scholarship is available for full-time college or college-bound students living in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties who have “exemplified the life of Cesar E. Chavez through demonstrated academic success and civic responsibility in their communities.” (more…)

The United Way is partnering with Grand Rapids Public Schools to improve English and literacy skills among parents at Harrison Park Elementary School.

The announcement kicked off Monday night’s GRPS board meeting.  Parents at Harrison Park will meet for two-hour English As A Second Language (ESL) courses twice a week.

It’s a pilot program expected to start in January.

“The data is very cleary that families who read together can help children significantly boost their vocabulary and school performance,” Literacy Center of West Michigan Executive Director Susan Ledy said in a statement.

The district also announced it exceeded its United Way fund-raising goal by $13,000. GRPS raised $103,000 for the campaign.

That money in a way comes back to GRPS, particularly in the form of Schools of Hope, a massive tutoring program also led by the United Way. Schools of Hope gives first- through third-graders access to an in-school tutor at a total cost of roughly $90,000 per year.

A motion to eliminate Grand Rapids Public Schools teacher jobs in the middle of the school year failed Monday night.

Here’s how the board voted:

Kenneth Hoskins – YES
Amy McGlynn – YES
Tony Baker – NO
Harry Campbell – NO
Jane Gietzen – NO
Lisa Hinkel – YES
Catherine Mueller – YES
David Allen, Arnie Smithalexander – ABSENT

GRPS also announced a new United Way program to help parents at one elementary school with their English and other literacy skills.

photo of Josiah Tummel, courtesy Zeeland Public Schools

A seventh-grader from Zeeland has achieved something no other student around the nation has: his essay is the only American entry featured in a United Nations booklet called “Peace Messages from Around the World.” (more…)

The relatively new superintendent of the public school system in the nation’s capital has made a radical offer to teachers: give up tenure and I’ll double your pay.

Her basic premise? Tenure protects bad teachers by making it more difficult for districts to fire them.

Washington Superintendent Michelle Rhee’s plan isn’t brand new. It has been featured in Newsweek. I caught a report on it yesterday on ABC World News Sunday and this morning, Rhee’s ideas were featured in the Grand Rapids Press, which just published a series on tenure issues in West Michigan. (more…)