School of Choice Openings Approved, Glencairn Principal Search Announced at School Board Meeting

The East Lansing Board of Education approved 139 openings for school of choice students for the 2024-2025 school year at its Monday, April 22 meeting. 

Applications for the slots will be open June 3-17, and the lottery to decide which students are admitted will be held the following week. At the short board meeting, Superintendent Dori Leyko took some time to explain how the district decides how many openings there are for students who live outside the school district. 

“We look to fill seats that we have available in our classrooms,” Leyko said. “We always leave a buffer because we may have new residents who move in.”

Leyko said that, for example, if teachers of a certain grade level have a 22 student capacity in their classrooms, the district will fill up to 20 students per class, leaving two slots per classroom available. This may not sound like a lot, but with 11 or 12 classrooms in that particular grade level, the buffer provides plenty of openings for new residents to enroll their children. 

Once students reach high school, they are no longer organized by classrooms, so the district looks at how many school of choice students can be added based on the size of each grade level. 

In August, the district may contact the families of students on a wait-list who were not selected in the lottery if there are still openings, Leyko said. 

Trustee Terah Chambers clarified that much of the process is set by the state, and not the district. She then asked how students are assigned to schools. Leyko responded that families list their top three preferred schools, and the district tries to accommodate these requests. The final decision is made by the school district. 

Expanding on the school placement process, Leyko said that residents’ children are first placed in their neighborhood boundary school. Then, residents can request a “permeable boundary” so their children can attend a school outside their neighborhood boundary – if families can provide transportation. After this, district employees can request the school their children attend. Finally, school of choice students are placed. 

School placement is especially important for younger students, as there are six elementary schools in the district. Meanwhile, there is only one middle school and one high school.

The 139 school of choice students will make up a small fraction of the roughly 3,800 students enrolled in East Lansing Public Schools. 

Glencairn Elementary is seeking a new principal. 

During her communications portion of the meeting, Leyko said that Glencairn Elementary School Principal Lorraine Ware is stepping down at the end of the school year and the district is searching for her replacement. 

During public comment, East Lansing Human Rights Commissioner Josh Hewitt, who has children in the district, said he hopes the new principal makes diversity a priority. 

“I just hope that Dori Leyko and the rest of the school board, pretty much, is intentional about who they hire,” he said. “I think this is a good opportunity to hire a principal who truly cares about the importance of diversity of our teaching staff, and just understands how important it is for students to see teachers who reflect a diverse demographic.”

Hewitt has spoken at previous board meetings about the lack of racial diversity among school staff members.

One more information session on school bond proposal scheduled. 

On May 7, East Lansing voters will decide whether or not to approve a $23.5 million bond proposal that would be spent to increase school security and accessibility, and build a new district administration building. 

Now, the school district is giving its final pitches to appeal to voters. Leyko said there is one last information session scheduled on the bond proposal to be held Thursday, April 25 at 9-10 a.m. in the high school. Leyko said the information sessions have been gaining popularity, as only one person attended the first session, five attended the second and 15 were at the third. 

Those who wish to attend Thursday’s meeting can enter the high school through its main entrance and then go up the stairs to the right, to the library hub where the session will be held, Leyko said. 

Leyko also said that the school district is continuing to add information to its bond proposal webpage, as it receives more questions from residents. She encouraged those who cannot attend the final session to explore the online resources.

“There’s even more information on there now than there was a week ago,” Leyko said. 

Looking ahead

The school board will next meet on Monday, May 13. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. downstairs in the high school. 

Anyone who wishes to view the April 22 meeting or other previous school board meetings can find the recordings here.