“We rely more on our partnerships and the grants themselves, as well as replenishing and bringing in students through school of choice [enrollment] to allow us to stay in the black in terms of our funding dollars,” McGhee says. The school of choice program has been fundamental to the district’s financial stability for nine years, allowing students from outside Harper Woods to enroll, which brings additional per-pupil funding. This revenue stream enables infrastructure expansion that would otherwise strain a district where 82% of students are economically disadvantaged and the studentteacher ratio is 25 to 1. The district receives approximately $10,050 from state aid per student annually, while 74.3% of additional funds come from local and federal sources. McGhee has built relationships with state agencies and legislators that create ongoing funding pipelines. “Through grants and collective partnerships, we’ve been able to garner dollars that allow us to continue to expand our infrastructure,” McGhee notes. The district maintains 93.6% of teachers with proper licensing while managing resources that serve nearly 2,600 students across four schools. A VISION FOR THE NEXT DECADE The district maps priorities across five and ten-year horizons, anticipating workforce shifts that haven’t materialized yet. “We are looking at not just two years, but five years and ten years down the line,” McGhee says. The approach requires transforming traditional classrooms into laboratories aligned with specific career pathways, where skill mastery 272 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 11
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