Buena Vista School District, Inkster School District Closings Strand Michigan Students, Teachers
Beatrice Avery is out of options. It's already August, and her son, a special education student in Buena Vista, Mich., still doesn't know where he's going to be in school this fall.
Buena Vista is a small township in central Michigan whose residents are primarily low income and black. The township's school district was dissolved last week after years of severe financial mismanagement and dwindling enrollment. As surrounding districts pick up the abandoned students, parents like Avery are examining their options -- and coming up short. Her son was zoned to Saginaw High School in Saginaw City, but that school's academic results are almost as lackluster as Buena Vista's were.
"Their test scores are just as low as Buena Vista's," Avery said. "They don't want to deal with us, and I don't see how they can meet his needs. The regular kids are failing, so what are they going to do for him?"
Avery is one of a few thousand parents in Michigan contending with a new problem