Zeeland Public Schools is eliminating its gifted and talented program and ZQuest school, replacing them with four new specialty programs as the district works to close an over $7 million budget deficit.
The changes, set to take effect next school year, come as the district also grapples with declining enrollment, which means a reduction in state funding. It's a trend Superintendent Rodney Hetherton said is affecting schools across Michigan.
"I think the state of Michigan is number one in the country for declining enrollment, and I think 70% of all districts have felt some decline," Hetherton said.
Hetherton said the district was interested in restructuring before the budget shortfall came into focus.
"As we're trying to right size a lot of items across the district, it was an opportunity where we were already looking at specialty programming and how to make it more equitable and accessible, and this just gave us even stronger impetus to do that work this year," Hetherton said. "Our team has worked so hard, over 200 hours in this project of restructuring to make sure that we continue that family centered care that they received in all of our programs."
The four new programs include Spanish Immersion, Zeeland Project Based Learning, a fourth and fifth grade extension class program called 4E-5E, and Z Virtual.
"We're creating two equitable tracks, one on the east side and one on the west side," said Hetherton.
Spanish Immersion will be offered on the east side, running through Lincoln Elementary and into Cityside Middle School.
Zeeland Project Based Learning, or ZPBL, will serve students on the west side, running from Quincy Elementary to Creekside Middle School.
"What we're doing is taking the best of our ZQuest experiences and the best of our GT experiences, and just creating a robust place where students can get into those classrooms and learn through inquiry," Hetherton said.
ZPBL will also incorporate a "Farm School" component, building on an outdoor-based learning pilot program the district's pre-K class participated in at Critter Barn in Zeeland.
"It was highly, highly successful. So, in the ZPBL programming, the K-2 students will get a chance to go to the Critter Barn and be on the farm," Hetherton said. "ODC is going to be our main model for third, fourth and fifth grade. And the upper EL kids will get that outdoor experience."
The 4E-5E extension class program expands on a fourth grade pilot from last year, adding fifth grade and placing a specialist teacher dedicated to inquiry and expansion programming in every building.
"That was for students who were above and beyond and wanted a little bit of a push, or maybe they just didn't want to leave their home building," Hetherton said. "Next year, it is going to double, and it will become fourth and fifth grade extension."
Z Virtual will offer a hybrid learning option with a certified teacher and a paraprofessional on both the east and west sides. Hetherton said the program will also be open to families outside of Zeeland Public Schools.
"It also hits the families in our community that aren't part of ZPS, but want to just get in line and get some electives and some other experiences," Hetherton said.
Not everyone is convinced the new programs will adequately serve students who previously qualified for the gifted and talented program.
Nathan Wolf, a Zeeland parent with four children in the district, said the GT program gave his daughters a love of learning that he worries the new structure cannot replicate.
"We want lifelong learners. We want kids that are always challenging themselves, kids that are always looking and learning new ideas, right?" said Wolf. "The GT program has sort of created and given my girls a spark for that."
Wolf said he is concerned that students who tested multiple grade levels ahead will no longer be challenged at the same level.
"You're going to take them out of a class that is teaching them at that level and really pushing them past it, they no longer are being pushed to excel and succeed," Wolf said. "It's just about meeting our children where they're at, and providing them with what they need to excel, and that goes from top to bottom within the district."
Wolf also said he believes district leadership should have spent more time inside the programs before deciding to eliminate them.
"Spend time in the classroom and really see what the students are doing, and really try and understand the value of a program before you remove it and decide to make broad level changes, because the impact is so much larger than I think they realize," Wolf said.
Kevin McCleery, another Zeeland parent, had four of his six children in the gifted and talented program. He said the learning environment was what made the program valuable.
"It gave students an opportunity to go as fast and as hard as they possibly could," McCleery said. "For me, it was the environment, though, more so than the curricula. The teachers have been really, really important."
McCleery said he plans to enroll his daughters in the ZPBL program but hopes the district will reconsider the future of GT.
"I'd love to have some opportunity to have a reassessment of what they're doing and find a way to keep GT just for what it is," McCleery said. "There's fantastic teachers and educators all the way down. So yeah, there's some disappointment about the GT program shifting, but I'm still here."
Both Wolf and McCleery plan to attend a school board meeting Monday, where Hetherton is scheduled to present the proposed changes.
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