APS, Onaway, and Alcona schools receive grants
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ALPENA -- Three Northeast Michigan school districts received grant funding to develop and strengthen their teacher and administrator mentoring and induction programs or to partner with a provider of mentoring services to meet state requirements.
Those districts are Alpena Public Schools (APS), Onaway Area Community School District, and Alcona Community Schools.
A total of 239 school districts across the state are receiving $10 million in funds from Section 27h of the fiscal year 2025 state school aid budget, according to a Monday press release from the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).
Strong mentoring and induction practices increase teacher retention and help to increase the number of certified teachers in areas of shortage.
"Districts that are receiving these grants have demonstrated that they are committed to strengthening the skills of new teachers and administrators and retaining those educators by having them learn from more experienced educators," State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh said in the press release. "The State Board of Education will continue to support efforts to address the teacher shortage."
The funding includes nearly $8.5 million to 199 intermediate school districts and local education agencies, both traditional public school districts and public school academies, to use for stipends and training for mentors of teachers; books, materials, professional learning, and other resources to support mentoring and induction of new teachers; and staffing costs to cover time spent dedicated to mentoring and onboarding of new teachers.
The remaining $1.5 million was awarded to 118 districts to contract with an approved provider of mentoring services for administrators.
Alcona Schools Superintendent Dan O'Connor said that his district received just over $20,000 from the grant.
He said they applied for the grant to revise the district’s teacher mentoring, or mentor-mentee process.
"That's been in our strategic plan for a couple years," O'Connor said.
He said the mentoring program they have currently isn't broken, but there is room for growth.
"With so many new staff right now coming from very different pathways, this was a need and something we can continue to improve upon," O'Connor said.
The grant has allowed them to partner with the Michigan State University Office of Educator Excellence to develop their teacher mentoring program and the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals to provide support for their newly hired junior/senior high principal.
"We've had four principals in eight years, that can be challenging to try and replace," O'Connor said.
The hope is that those partnerships will increase teacher and administrative retention.
The Grow Your Own grant that the district recently received goes hand in hand with the mentoring grant. That grant allows current teachers to receive further certifications and even Master's degrees. O'Connor said that eight or nine staff showed interest in furthering their own education, which is a significant chunk for a small staff of about 40 people.
The amounts that APS and Onaway received from the grant are not listed in the MDE press release.
Messages were left with APS Superintendent Dave Rabbideau and Onaway Interim Superintendent Robin Benson for comment.
Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@thealpenanews.com.