As the school year approaches, HPS has challenges ahead

The Hamtramck Public School District will have a few issues to iron out this year. At this point, ongoing building repairs at Holbrook Elementary School and the Early Childhood Elementary School will delay students returning to the buildings. Instead, they will likely go back to virtual learning for the beginning of the new school year. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
As the new school year approaches, there are a number of issues facing the school district and its students.
Per recent media reports, U.S. school attendance has become a key concern – especially in Michigan, where there a high rate of student absenteeism.
Michigan schools are said to be experiencing some of the highest absentee rates – in some cases, as much as 40 percent on average.
The problem started when the pandemic began three years ago, and it stubbornly continues even though students have returned to in-classroom learning over a year ago.
During the pandemic, many students were forced to attend classes online. Hamtramck teachers said that, during that time, a number of students were having a hard time focusing on the subjects being discussed, and some would drift off during classes.
Getting students back into regular patterns of attendance since they returned to schools has been an ongoing challenge, a number of educators have reported.
One reason put forward for the drop-off in attendance has been lingering health concerns that students and their parents have about in-classroom learning.
In Hamtramck,however, attendance isn’t as much of an issue, according to statistics supplied by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).
According to the MDE, here are the following attendance records for the last four years:
2021-22: 87.90 percent
2020-21: 98.66 percent
2019-20: 92.97 percent
2018-19: 93.03 percent

While those stats are impressive, there is a concern once some students reach high school. At that level, there are, on average, over 100 students who are chronically absent, according to the MDE.
The district, which had about 3,100 students enrolled last year, does have its other challenges.
For many students who are immigrants, or whose parents are immigrants, there is a language barrier that educators must first overcome.
That challenge has been blamed for leading to low proficiency rates in the school district — the bottom 50 percent in math and reading, as well in other subjects.
This year, some Hamtramck students may have to return to online classroom lessons. At the August school board meeting, HPS Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed said students at the Early Childhood Center and at Holbrook Elementary might have to temporarily go back to virtual learning.
That’s because of ongoing construction and other improvements being done at the schools.
On Monday, The Review asked Superintendent Ahmed for an update on the status of those schools, but as of Thursday, the day The Review went to press, she had not responded.
At the August school board meeting, Ahmed did say that her “team” is “prepared for that event.”
According to sources, it appears those schools will be resorting to virtual learning. It was not immediately known if parents of students who go to those schools have been informed.
(The school board cancelled its monthly Committee of the Whole meeting on Wednesday. The new school year starts on Tuesday, Sept. 5 – just a little over a week away.)
On the plus side, the state is now funding free meals for all public school students starting this school year.
The state has carved out $235 million for the program, which offers free breakfasts and lunches every school day.
The meals are being offered to pre-schoolers through 12th grade. Students up to 26 years old who are enrolled in special education courses are also qualified for the program.
Some districts may require a form to be filled out, but the program is not based on household income.
The Review again reached out to Superintendent Ahmed on how the district is preparing for the program, but she again did not respond.
Posted Aug. 25, 2023