Mr. Tom Jayne

Mr. Tom Jayne

Superintendent; Alternative Education Principal; District's Civil Rights Coordinator

tjayne@fptrojans.org 

(906) 875-6761 (Superintendent Office)

 

GREETINGS FROM THE DESK  OF THE SUPERINTENDENT

As I begin my seventh year as the Forest Park School District Superintendent I would like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone to the 2009-2010 school year.  I hope everyone had an opportunity to enjoy the many splendors our Upper Peninsula summers offer and, as a result, you are excited and ready to take on and meet the many challenges, successes and fun times this school year will provide.

     The summer months spent preparing for the upcoming school year have been anything but quiet and void of new challenges for me. On the contrary, much of my energy has been spent helping to shape, manage and oversee the following projects:

The 2009-2010 & 2010-11 School Operating Budgets:

     One only needs to turn on the television set, tune into a favorite radio station, surf the internet and or read a newspaper to understand that our great state of Michigan and Nation is standing in the face of the worst economic crisis and challenges since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. This economic storm along with the past, present and future inability of our state legislative, judicial and executive leaders to make the right and tough decisions when it comes to reinventing the way Michigan should have and must begin to generate new and innovative revenues as well as cut expenses and still continue to offer among other things strong 21st Century Schools, has left the current and near future of our school funding capabilities on the edge of a funding cliff. As a result of these inabilities the state is faced with the reality of possibly having to cut all schools per pupil funding by as much as $722 over the next two school years. If this scenario along with other proposed funding cuts (declining enrollment dollars for instance) comes to fruition the Forest Park School District may be saddled with having to cut over $900,000 between now and June 30, 2010 in order to present a balanced budget at the end of the 2009-10 school year and the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, which is required by Michigan law. If indeed these projections and or percentages of the projections come to be fact; the School Board and Administration will be faced with recommending and ultimately making unprecedented and extremely tough and agonizing decisions in order to balance the existing and future budgets. As citizens of the Forest Park School District I encourage you to attend our monthly Board of Education meetings and join the 21st Century Schools Parent/Public Committee the Board and Administration will be forming. This will help you to stay informed on this evolving topic. Furthermore, I urge you to contact our local state Legislators and Senators and encourage them to make the right, albeit tough decisions when it comes to funding schools fairly and adequately. Our students deserve the best not less.

The Start up and Completion of the Many Successful Bond Proposal Projects:

     As a result of our supportive and generous district voters the $775,000 allocated last August to under take various building and athletic capital improvement projects have resulted in the completion of the following:

·          A 300 yard 8 foot wide practice running/walking track. I encourage and challenge the public to take advantage of this healthy upgrade.

·          New red and black aluminum and handicap accessible football bleachers which will seat 780 fans.

·          A new 320 square foot press box and state of the art public address system.

·          4 new state of the art 70 foot football field light stands. (24 lights now stand in place of (7) 52 year old  wooden poles with 113 lights).

·           A new 600 square foot storage facility.

·          A renovated concession stand which doubled the working and storage area, expanded the electrical service, as well as, provides running water for the first time to the facility for our volunteer workers.

·          A very large new grassy play area for our Elementary students to play on in the south end of our playground. This renovation stands in place of what used to be an unused and decaying tennis court facility.

·          22 new (2 more to be possible be installed) state of the art, energy efficient exterior windows in the high school.

3 new state of the art, energy efficient domestic water heaters and boilers in the Elementary, Middle and High School.

As of today (8-27-09) the project looks to be coming to a completion under budget which will allow the District to decide to implement further energy efficient and safety projects such as installing light sensors throughout the K-12 facility and adding additional security cameras and new exterior door locks.

None of the  mentioned improvements would have been made possible if not for the generosity and understanding of the voters of the Forest Park School District on the night of August 5, 2008. To all of you who took the time to vote and pass this proposal I say, “Thank You.” Your efforts will positively impact our District and its students for many decades to come.

 

The moving of the Central Offices to the Elementary Building and 6 High School Classrooms to the Lower End of the K-12 Facility:

     As a result of rapid declining student enrollment since 1998 (the loss of 210 students and or 30% of our student population) and an ever tightening budget the District was forced to take a look at moving many of the existing High School classrooms and office areas down to the new 12 year old end of the building. Actually this scenario has been talked about in committees for the past several years but gained more validity as our budget concerns continued to grow. Once it was determined that the move could physically occur the process was put in place and for the most part has been completed. A visitor to the building will now find the Central, Secondary and Elementary Offices next to one another in the Elementary end of the complex and six (6) high school classrooms on the lower level (before the Middle School and to the Northwest of the Middle School) of the complex. As a result of this move we have vacated about 25,000 square feet of building which may in turn help save about $25,000 a year in heating, electrical and water costs. It is also the hope of the District as a result of this move to be able to rent and or lease the vacated areas to a local human resources agency, such as a Community College, so as to help provide more services for the community and at the same time generate more revenue for the District.

The Start up of an Alternative Education Program:

     In June of 2009 I asked one of our Administrative Assistants to run me a list of any current 9th-12th grade students who had left our District for one reason or another during the 2008-09 school year. To my surprise the list had 13 names on it. This prompted me to get permission from the Board of Education to explore the possibility of running an Alternative Education Program within the confines of the existing K-12 facility taking into consideration that there would be ample room for the program with the move of many of the existing High School classrooms to the western lower part of the building over the summer. As result of contacting the 13 students who and left our school district as well as advertising the program I am pleased to announce that as of today we will be able to serve (18) 6th-12th grade students who otherwise would not be have enrolled in school and or in the Forest Park School District during the 2009-10 school year. Furthermore, this program will also enable the District to offset some general fund expenditures such as part of the Superintendents salary as I am also serving as the programs Principal.

     In closing I want to remind everyone that my door is always open and that your support of our students and student programs is much appreciated. Please take the time to attend our many sports and extra curricular program offerings. Your attendance is appreciated and I assure you will come away very impressed and proud of our students and their teachers, coaches, and advisors. Go Trojans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Door is Always Open,
Thomas A. Jayne
Superintendent FPSD

 

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