Flint Schools to host community forum on Thursday, Feb. 9

Flint, MI—Flint Community Schools (FCS) will be hosting a forum on Feb. 9, 2023 to update families on the district’s COVID relief funds, construction plans and academics. 

According to the district’s notice to families, the forum will take place at the Accelerated Learning Academy, located at 1602 S. Averill Ave., on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

The upcoming forum is one in a series that Flint Schools has been hosting to gather input from families and community members. 

“We get their feedback,” Kevelin Jones, the district’s superintendent, told Flint Beat. “We take it in. If we can make changes based on their feedback, we do so. They ask for more technology, we got it. They ask for more safety measures, we put them in place.” 

Beyond the opportunity for community members to voice their thoughts and questions, Jones said the administration will be sharing information about the district’s spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. 

ESSER funding is federally-awarded and meant to support school districts’ response to COVID-19. Flint Schools’ installments of the funds total to more than $155 million. 

At the forum, the administration will also provide information about the district’s construction projects, Jones said. Those projects include renovating Doyle-Ryder Elementary School, the parking lots of the district’s buildings and the auditorium of Potter Elementary School.

When it comes to academics, the forum will also provide updates about Flint Schools’ partnership agreement with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and the Genesee Intermediate School District to improve student outcomes. 

Based on the Michigan School Index System, the state is requiring seven low-performing schools in the district to be covered by the agreement, which is meant to help craft strategies and target outcomes for improving student performance.

Jones said during a Feb. 1 Board of Education subcommittee meeting that Dr. William Pearson, director of MDE’s Office of Partnership Districts, will be presenting on the partnership agreement at Thursday’s forum.