APS defines full-time student
By JULIE GOLDBERG
News Staff Writer
ALPENA — Alpena Public Schools has outlined what it takes to be a full-time student in the district.
The district Board of Education on Monday defined the number of courses a student has to take to be a full-time student, a step required by the Michigan Department of Education in its 2019-20 Pupil Accounting Manual.
“This was a new component for the Pupil Accounting Manual for this school year that came out just in late December, early January,” Superintendent John VanWagoner said Monday. “We’re halfway through the year already, so we’re now meeting that and making sure that we have it ready.”
VanWagoner said that information will be ready when the district participates in spring count day on Feb. 12. Spring count day occurs on the second Wednesday of February and districts get 10% of their state funding based on the number of students counted that day.
The other 90% comes from fall count, which occurs on the first Wednesday of October.
Alpena High School, Thunder Bay Junior High School, and Alternative Choices for Educational Success Academy students have to take six courses per semester/trimester to be a full-time student.
Students can take additional courses if VanWagoner approves.
Junior kindergarten and kindergarten students have to take eight courses, first-graders have to take nine courses, and second- through fifth-graders have to take 10 courses.
VanWagoner anticipates the board will have to approve the full-time status requirements every year.
“This is brand new and checking boxes off to make sure we know what we need to do so we don’t have pupil accounting issues,” VanWagoner said.
Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.
In other business
The Alpena Public Schools Board of Education on Monday also:
∫ adopted new online courses through Lincoln Learning and Edgenuity.
∫ adopted a district course catalog that will be posted on the district’s website.
∫ approved hiring Alicia LaCross as a special education teacher at Thunder Bay Junior High School and Besser Elementary School and Shannon Meek as a first-grade teacher at Sanborn Elementary School.
∫ heard from Melissa Guy, executive director for human resources and labor relations, that Wilson Elementary School instructional assistant Tracie Schaedig, transportation dispatcher Deborah Walsh, Thunder Bay Junior High School secretary Kimberly Nowak, and Wilson Elementary School secretary Lisa Blumenthal all resigned from the district.