Brendan P. Walsh

The Grosse Pointe Public School System is hosting a community open house tomorrow (more info here), November 11, from 1-3 pm. All the school buildings in the district will be open. I strongly encourage everyone to pass the word along to friends and acquaintances to get a great turnout.

This event is driven by a variety of factors, all of them good. Some coverage of the event has isolated more on the enrollment driver for undertaking it. It would be disingenuous to claim that the intent is not largely intended to encourage enrollment, but I think there are bigger issues at stake.

But let’s talk about enrollment for a moment. I’ve been working for some time on U.S. Census data analysis and issues related to our community’s school age population and enrollment demographics. I’m not ready to unveil it all right now, but a few things are worth sharing now.

I shared some of these findings in my last post related to the Grosse Pointe Woods millage ballot measures, both of which met fairly resounding defeat. One of the more salient issues is Grosse Pointe’s declining population. I’m not talking just about school population, but rather population globally. The rate of reduction in the Grosse Pointe’s is many multiples higher than the State of Michigan’s, that infamously led the country.

To state the obvious, this isn’t good. Economically, it means we have fewer people desiring houses, fewer shopping, and fewer going to school here – be they public or private schools.

The aggregate population loss of the five Grosse Pointe’s was 5%, but among K-12 aged students the loss was greater. In 2010, the five Grosse Pointe’s had 7.5% fewer K-12 enrolled students (public and private) than in 2000. Translated, we’ve lost school age families at a rate greater than general population loss.

It’s not an equal loss, by the way. The differences among the cities is substantial. In fact Grosse Pointe City and Park actually increased their K-12 aged population by 6% and 3% respectively. The Farms, Shores and Woods K-12 student population – again, both public and private – has dropped by 6%, 33% and 19% respectively.

In total, in 2000 the five Grosse Pointe’s K-12 enrolled population was 20.1%. In 2010, it was 19.6%. Since it’s been a topic of discussion, among the K-12 population in the Grosse Pointe’s 84% attend public schools, up from 81% in the year 2000. So this counters the narrative that public schools are losing market share to private schools.

Enrollment in private schools among Grosse Pointe students has dropped 25% while public school enrollment is down just 4%, lower than the rate of loss of the overall population.

So let’s get out of the weeds and numbers for a moment. Here’s my point. For the Grosse Pointe’s to flourish, we need to maximize all of our assets. Our schools, both public and private, are a big part of that.

From my perspective on the school board, we haven’t taken enough pride in the broad sense of the Grosse Pointe Public School System, despite the near unanimous support I hear from parents about their neighborhood school. It’s my sincere hope that all of us can take the time to learn about the unique value of all of our schools individually and collectively and to serve as ambassadors of not just our school system, but by extension, ambassadors of the community.

We need to send the message out more broadly that the Grosse Pointe’s are proud of their schools and to leverage that excellence into growth for the community. All stakeholders will be stronger as a result.

So please pass the word abut tomorrow. If you haven’t been in our schools in a while, take this opportunity. Tell your friends and neighbors. Perhaps go visit a school across town and learn about them. Satisfy your own concerns and curiosity. I’m confident you won’t be disappointed.