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Wednesday, May 3, 2017

BAY CITY ACADEMY FALLING BEHIND: Michigan Taxpayers Pay The Price As Plunging Enrollment At Bay City Academy Slows Climb Out Of Massive Budget Hole To A Halt; Promised Rosy Enrollment Projections Have Not Been Met


No wonder fortunate son-in-law Brian Lynch made an uncredited (and overblown) guest appearance last week during the Grand Traverse Academy's April 27th board meeting: he may soon be job-hunting!

If Lynch had to run on his record at the Bay City Academy, he'd have a tough time explaining why his Mitten Educational Management has not met key benchmarks promised to the Michigan Department of Education in early 2016.

In its March 7, 2017 report to Michigan House and Senate K-12 Appropriations Subcommittees, the Michigan Department of Education classified the Bay City Academy among the districts that began the FYE June 30, 2017 in deficit and project to end the year with a reduced deficit.

However, when the plan was approved by the MDE, the Bay City Academy projected its June 30, 2016 deficit would be whittled down from nearly $1.5 million to $1,099,749 and not $1,155,456.

Based on missing its aggressive enrollment goals, the Bay City Academy continues a downward slide.

The charter school's deficit elimination plan (approved by the Michigan Department of Education on January 21, 2016) was based on the following student population growth targets: 

2016/17: 427 
2017/18: 450 
2018/19: 480 
2019/20: 506 

The audited Spring 2017 student count, per the official MDE numbers, was 335. That number includes the one remaining Bay City (Farragut campus) location and Mancelona's North Central Academy.

Due to the shuttering of its Madison Arts campus after Chemical Bank foreclosed on the building formerly owned by Steven Ingersoll, the Bay City Academy has been shrinking faster than the Wicked Witch of the West.



Brush up that resume, dude!

A selection of past Bay City Academy coverage:

August 26, 2016 “Poor, Poor Pitiful Steve” 
May 20, 2016 “To The Extent Possible: Cutting Ties” 
April 6, 2016 “A Sorry Excuse For A School” 
February 18, 2016 “Rattling The Tin Cup” 
February 8, 2016 “Rotten To The Core” 
December 7, 2015 “Putting The ‘Screw’ In Scrutiny” 
November 27, 2015 “Lipstick On A Pig” 
November 24, 2015 “Debt Hangover” 
November 20, 2015 “High-Pitched Squeals” 
November 17, 2015 “Deficit, What Deficit?” 
November 14, 2015 “Def Jam

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