Flint, MI—Flint Community School officials are inviting Flint residents to weigh in on how the district should spend over $99 million in COVID relief funds as well as a potential grant up to $200 million from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation that the district has been invited to apply for.

The forums are part a new, long-term initiative called “Future Focused: Renovating, Rebuilding, Re-energizing” aimed at reviving the struggling district.

“When it comes to your children’s education, your voice means everything to us. Flint Community Schools is nothing without the community that it serves. To that end, the district today announced the launch of community forum meetings, which will begin the week of November 29 and run through mid-December,” Superintendent Kevelin Jones said in a letter to the community.

The Future Focused initiative is structured around four components, according to the press release: community conversations, an Impact Advisory Committee to represent the “community voice,” committee chairs and the superintendent who will be responsible for gathering community input, and the Board of Education who will make final decisions for the district.

There will be 10 community forums at various buildings throughout the district. Each is scheduled to last for two hours. Every member of the community is invited to attend.

Participants can join in-person, virtually via Zoom or share their input by filling out a Google form survey. Zoom recordings will be shared online 24 hours following each forum.

Below is the schedule.

  • Tuesday, November 30 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Freeman Elementary, 4001 Ogema, Flint, MI
  • Wednesday, December 1 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Southwestern Classical Academy, 1420 W. 12th, Flint, MI
  • Thursday, December 2 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Accelerated Learning Academy, 1602 S. Averill Ave. Flint, MI
  • Friday, December 3 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Pierce Elementary, 1101 W. Vernon Dr., Flint, MI
  • Monday, December 6 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. for Doyle-Ryder Elementary/Potter Elementary, 2500 N. Averill Ave., Flint, MI
  • Tuesday, December 7 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Brownell STEM Academy/Holmes STEM Academy, 6602 Oxley Dr., Flint, MI
  • Thursday, December 9 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary, 1518 University Ave., Flint, MI
  • Friday, December 10 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Neithercut Elementary, 2010 Crestbrook Ln, Flint, MI
  • Monday, December 13 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Eisenhower Elementary, 1235 Pershing St., Flint, MI
  • Tuesday, December 14 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the district administration building, 923 E. Kearsley St., Flint, MI

Carmen Nesbitt is a journalist with diverse experience in news reporting and feature writing. She wrote for Hour Detroit and SEEN Magazine before joining the Flint Beat news team as an education and public...