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GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — The day reserved to tally up enrollment in Michigan’s public schools raised more questions than it answered in Genesee County.

Of the county’s 21 public school districts, five failed to supply preliminary, unofficial student count numbers by the end of the day after several Flint Journal requests.

Typically, one or two schools will fail to answer requests for tallies on count day. Last February, Carman-Ainsworth was the only district that did not supply a count. As of Wednesday evening, Bendle, Carman-Ainsworth, Flint, Montrose and Mt. Morris districts did not supply preliminary counts.

Many officials from those district’s said they either were still adding up numbers late in the day or that top-level administrators were not available to supply information.

For example, Flint School District spokesman Robert Campbell said, “one or two schools” were still having counts added up late in the day.

Of the schools that did report counts, most saw small changes.

The biggest reported change came from the Flushing district, which lost 140 students from February 2011 to February 2012.

The tally of 4,135 students is down from 4,275 pupils in February 2011. The count is used to figure 10 percent of state aid to the school district.

Denise Churchill, Flushing schools child accounting secretary, said “The drop could be attributed to several things,” but she did not offer any specific examples.

The Grand Blanc School District saw a 137 student increase compared to this time last year.

“Obviously, we are pleased with all of our schools’ abilities to retain more students,” said Superintendent Norman Abdella. “Each school, each teacher, works very hard to make sure our students are successful. And its seemed to pay off.”

What surprised Abdella  a little was the unusually small decrease in students since the October student count day.

District Feb. 2012 Feb. 2011 Change

Atherton847904-57 Beecher1,5041,580-76 BendleN/A1,085N/A Bentley850 873 23 Carman-AinsworthN/AN/AN/A Clio3,5803,669 89 Davison5,5145,46153 Fenton3,5463,45789 FlintN/A10,123N/A Flushing4,1354,275-140 Genesee8028011 Goodrich2,1562,11937 Grand Blanc8,7178,592125 Kearsley3,1333,138-5 Lake Fenton1,8511,8456 LakeVille1,5861,660-74 Linden 2,9602,975-15 MontroseN/A1,477N/A Mt. MorrisN/A2,658N/A Swartz Creek3,9793,9709 Westwood Heights94391627

There was a difference of only 23 students between the October student count day and Wednesday.

“Traditionally, weve dropped considerably between fall count and winter count, but this year weve seemed to retain more,” Abdella said. “In the past weve been as high as 100 students down. Were pleased to retain so many students.”

The small shifts are a contrast from the shrinking enrollment many schools experienced in recent years as the Genesee County’s overall population and economy shrank.

For example, from 2001 to 2010, the county’s public schools lost roughly 10,000 students, moving from about 85,000 to 75,000.

Count day is used to determine districts’ official enrollment, and consequently how much government funding they will receive as funds are doled out in a per-pupil formula.

This school year, the state’s minimum per-pupil foundation allowance was $6,846. Lawmakers have yet to determine what next year’s foundation allowance will be.

However, the February count is less important than it has been in the past. This week’s count will be blended with October’s count to determine the year’s enrollment.

Starting this year, the fall tally accounts for 90 percent of the final count. Before this, the fall count was 75 percent, making the winter count worth 25 percent instead of 10 percent.

While an important day — with some schools luring students in with parties and prizes — the count Wednesday will only be preliminary.

Each district will have another month to account for absent students. And the numbers have to be converted to full-time-equivalent students, an important factor for schools with alternative education programs who typically have a high number of part-time students.

Linden Superintendent Ed Koledo is encouraged with today’s student count figures.

Today’s enrollment count resulted in 2,960 students for his district.

The school district counted 2,975 students last year during its February count day and 3,013 students in February of 2010.

Koledo said the school district was losing students for about three consecutive years at a higher rate, and sees this year that enrollment is leveling out.

“I’m encouraged, just as we seemed to be in the fall, we’re sustaining,” Koledo said.

Koledo cited families of the students moving out of the area and students graduating early for this year’s slight decline.

The Fenton School District saw an increase of nine students from the fall.

Doug Busch, director of finance and personnel for the district, said today’s enrollment count resulted in 3,546 students – an increase of nine from October’s 3,537 count.

“We’re pleased that our enrollment is increasing and think that we have a lot to offer to our students – great educational opportunities and a great staff,” Busch said.

The school district counted 3,457 students last year during its count day, and 3,490 students in February of 2010.

Busch said the district intends to analyze its count information later.

– Flint Journal Reporters Roberto Acosta, Dana DeFever, Amanda Emery, Sarah Schuch and Orrin Shawl contributed to this report.

A final-year student from Queen’s University in Belfast has outshone more than 3,000 competitors to be crowned the UK’s Universities Brightest Business Brain.

David Galbraith, from east Belfast, who is studying computing information technology, topped the leaderboard to take the title and the 1,000 prize in the grand final at Cass Business School in London.

Launched in September, the popular competition saw more than 3,000 students register and take four online exercises which were designed to assess their competencies, traits and aptitudes as well as identify their commercial awareness.

The 60 highest scorers were then invited to take part in the grand final where there were challenges including teamworking and communication exercises and a business case study.

A former pupil of Wellington College, David said: “The exercises we undertook ranged from having to construct a Lego tower to taking part in a debate about positive action.

“They were undoubtedly challenging and I had to think on my feet, but I also found them quite good fun.

“Obviously I’m delighted to have won, and I’m very grateful to the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Enterprise SU at Queen’s for their support.

“The experience was really worthwhile.

“It not only opened up potential job opportunities for me after graduation, but also led to my acceptance by the Brightest Minds organisation, which is quite an honour.”

FLINT, Michigan A free workshop aims to answer questions about child growth and development for parents, grandparents and childcare providers.

The Parents Helping Parents program is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 25 at Peace Presbyterian Church in Flint, 1521 N. Elms Rd.

Judy Apgar, a retired professor from Saginaw Valley State University and is a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer with the Weiss Advocacy Center, will host the program.

According to a press release on the event, Apgar “will talk about the growth and development of a child from Prebirth to Adolescence and how parents can cope with the issues that come up in each of these stages to help improve the quality of their children’s lives.”

For more information, please visit the Weiss Advocacy Center website at

THE future of Stranmillis teacher training college could be in jeopardy because of political wrangling.

The proposed 16m merger of Stranmillis University College and Queen’s University Belfast is today expected to be put on hold, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

Both Queen’s and Stranmillis have endorsed the amalgamation that would streamline teacher training and create a world-class facility — the Stranmillis School of Education.

However, it has emerged that a political stand-off has developed between First Minister Peter Robinson and Employment Minister Stephen Farry over “deep scepticism” about the perceived Protestant “ethos” of Stranmillis.

In correspondence between the DUP leader and the Alliance minister, seen by the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Robinson expresses fears about the “protection of the ethos of the college”.

He states: “I am convinced that the inevitable consequence will be a dilution of the existing ethos Stranmillis has proudly maintained. When considered in conjunction with the absence of similar proposals relating to St Mary’s, neither I nor my party could support the proposed merger.”

Mr Robinson adds: “I have been publicly vocal on the need for Northern Ireland to progress toward an education sector that is truly shared yet feel the continued protection of St Mary’s privileged position, whilst undermining that of Stranmillis, would be a retrograde step.”

The public consultation on the proposed merger closed in June and was widely expected to have been rubber-stamped by Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) Minister Farry.

There have been several meetings between Mr Robinson and Mr Farry in recent weeks to try to resolve the political deadlock.

It is understood Mr Farry will today make a statement on teacher training to the Assembly. It is believed he will announce a review of all provision in Northern Ireland.

That will inevitably mean that the planned September 2012 opening of Stranmillis School of Education will not be going ahead, which could prove a financial headache for DEL.

New figures suggest Stranmillis will be more than 1m in debt by 2014/15 and needs at least 9m of investment.

Since 2007 there has been an 18% reduction in staff at the south Belfast campus, according to a briefing paper presented to Stormont’s employment and learning committee last month.

Those figures could rise if the number of teacher training places are reduced by the Department of Education given the number of empty desks, impending school closures and the already high number of newly-qualified teachers failing to gain employment.

It emerged during an Assembly debate in September that just 30 of 600 new teachers trained in Northern Ireland have been able to secure full-time school jobs this year. There’s an estimated 5,000 teachers currently out of work.

That means 5% secured employment, down from 15% in 2006/7 and 23% in 2003/4, according to research from the Higher Education and Statistics Agency.

Queen’s has offered to invest 7m in Stranmillis, three-year job protection to staff, four years’ salary protection and a severance package to those wishing to retire.

Steve Costello, chairman of Stranmillis’ board of governors, admitted the future of the college hangs in the balance.

Mr Costello penned the Costello Report for the Department of Education.

He said: “We know this institution is not viable for much longer. We will not be viable at the end of four years and we have potential building work. We are in a really difficult situation.

“It drives us mad that these are the only two options and we are playing political football.

“The merger is the only show in town, without it Stranmillis will not survive. All senior staff have bought into it, it’s just down to the political will of the politicians.”

Mr Costello praised Minister Farry who he described as “being totally on top of his job”.

He added: “We are very impressed with his knowledge, he really has done his homework.”

A spokesman for Queen’s said: “We went into this process because we had a vision for a world-class centre for teacher education that would be good for Northern Ireland and would link us to leading education centres around the world.

“We remain committed to that ideal.”

Background

Teacher training in Northern Ireland is delivered by five institutions. Stranmillis mainly prepares teachers for employment in the controlled sector and St Mary’s University College traditionally trains teachers for the Catholic maintained sector.

Postgraduate training is also provided by Queen’s, the University of Ulster and the Open University. Both Stranmillis and St Mary’s are colleges of Queen’s and are awarded their degrees by the university.

An over-supply of teachers had seen a decline in the number of training posts. However, former Education Minister Caitriona Ruane increased the intake in 2009/10 and 2010/11 to safeguard the future viability of both colleges.

GRAND BLANC, Michigan State Rep. Paul Scott began the year as a rising political star.

The Grand Blanc Republican ended it as a private citizen, booted from office by voters in the first recall of a member of the state Legislature since 1983.

He lost in November by a margin of just 197 votes, eight-tenths of 1 percent of the 24,000 cast by voters in the 51st State House District, which encompasses Atlas, Argentine, Fenton, Grand Blanc and Mundy townships, along with the cities of Fenton, Grand Blanc and Linden.

Scotts recall the first successful recall of a state lawmaker in 28 years tops the list of The Flint Journals most newsworthy stories of 2011.

In January, Scott, 29, was beginning his second term as a state representative. The GOP had just taken control of both chambers of the Legislature, and a new Republican governor who would become a strong supporter of Scott also took office.

Scott was named chairman of the House Education Committee, giving him a powerful role in shaping education legislation.

Along with supporting Gov. Rick Snyders budget, which included cuts to K-12 funding, Scott played an instrumental role in teacher tenure reform that passed during the summer. He also publicly bashed the Michigan Education Association, the states largest teachers union.

The moves sparked the recall effort, with the MEA chipping in $140,000 to help remove him from office.

Scott countered that by collecting nearly twice as much from donors, including lobbies representing education reform and businesses.

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The recall made for sour relations between parties and created a harsh atmosphere in Lansing, said House Democratic leader Richard Hammel, D-Mt. Morris Twp.

It was probably as partisan as Ive seen it, Hammel said.

Since leaving office, Scott said he has fielded job offers from the private sector, many for consulting work, and still is deciding whether he will run for his seat again in November.

So far hes enjoying life as a private citizen, spending time with his young son and catching up on sports.

Its really good, he said, completely stress-free.

What hes noticed most about politics since leaving Lansing is how much concern over having a political future affects lawmakers decisions.

I think in that bubble in Lansing, theres way too much political calculus going on, he said. People just need to focus on why they ran.

Gary Carnahan, one of the organizers behind the recall effort, said the group was successful not only in ousting Scott but also in slowing down the aggressive education reform efforts coming from Lansing.

We havent seen anything like that since (Election Day), Carnahan said. Im not saying thats a permanent effect, but I think it sent a ripple through the state Legislature.

In February, voters will decide among Republican nominee Joseph Graves of Argentine Township, Democrat Steven Losey of Linden and Green Party candidate Cary Neuville-Justice of Linden to fill Scotts state representative seat until the November election.

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