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READERS
Father’s murder trial in tot’s death set
103. Business Property For Sale
Wayne-Westland Community
Schools Superintendent Shelley
Holt doesn't shy away from ques-
tions about declining student test
scores in the district.
“We know where we were,”
Holt, a California native who
came from the Fontana School
District in that state this year,
said. “We just need to approach
our learning a little differently.”
Holt spoke Jan. 18 tomembers
of the Westland Rotary Club. She
was asked by Wayne Memorial
High School alumni Joe Tseng, a
dentist, about academics.
“At one point, we were very
high in our test scores,” Holt
responded. “The cognitive rigor
that's required of our students is
very different thanwhen you and
I were in school. We have to
teach our kids to think different-
ly.”
She described a partnership
with Wayne RESA, the interme-
diate school district, the state
Department of Education and
Wayne-Westland. Three schools,
Hoover, Hicks and Hamilton ele-
mentary, were listed for the pri-
ority status in the wake of three
consecutive years of declining
scores.
“This year, Hicks came out,
Hamilton came out. Hoover did
not. We know where we were,”
she told Rotary members and
guests. “It causes some conster-
nation. Our babies are brilliant.
We just need to approach our
learning a little differently.”
Ideas that have emerged
includemaking kindergarten two
years for some students, as well
as possibly starting an
International Baccalaureate pre-
college program in Wayne-
Westland.
Holt said Wayne-Westland has
lost some 300 students a year in
recent years, but this year lost
only 117. The district receives
$7,631 in per pupil funding from
the state.
“We're able to do some differ-
ent things now that we have
more kids,” she said of the 11,300-
student enrollment. Holt noted
difficulty with low teacher
salaries, and said she loses teach-
ers to Plymouth-Canton, Livonia
andGardenCity.
“We're working right now to
fix some of those challenges
around the declining enrollment
and the student achievement,”
she said.
Antoinette Martin, who works
in finance, asked about schools
opening or closing. Holt noted
closings are possible, based on
enrollment
trends.
The
Jefferson-Barns Community
Vitality Center in the Norwayne
community is one example she
cited of a new use, noting others
could follow that path.
She's looking with other dis-
trict leaders at how programs
improve student achievement,
and at spending within buildings,
she said. Enrollment configura-
tions could change. “Most likely,
we will be consolidating
schools,”Holt said.
“Charter schools want to be
treated like public schools,” she
said.. A study led by an Oakland
County educator and others
noted great funding discrepan-
cies, even among public districts.
“At risk kids and kids in pover-
ty require more support,” Holt
said. In her district, 67 percent of
students receive free or reduced-
price lunches, an increase of 22
percent from10 years ago.
Demographics are also shift-
ing, with the student population
at John Glenn High 40 percent
black and at Wayne Memorial
High 38 percent black. “They
come from the community. The
community has shifted,” Holt
said.
The average family income in
the district is $45,000, but drops
into the $20,000s in some schools,
she said. Holt said she is focused
on helping district educators
learnnewskills.
“We're going to learn how to
deal with the trauma,” she said,
noting that ranges from domestic
violence to excessive partying in
student homes.
Holt shared she was originally
planning to be a physician.
“I started to teach and fell in
love with this profession,” she
said. She earned her doctorate
from the University of Southern
California.
She was also a bit mystified by
snow, and joked about driving
over it repeatedly until being told
it's to be shoveled. Holt conclud-
ed, “Wayne-Westland's going to be
amazing. We have the people to
do that.”
In introducing Holt, Westland
Rotary Club President Maria
Mitter said, “I have been so
impressed with your commit-
ment to
t h i s
c o m -
munity,
wh i ch
is not
y o u r
o w n . ”
Mitter
wo r k s
w i t h
Holt and others through the
Eastern Michigan University
Bright Futures academic enrich-
ment program.
“I'm pleased to welcome Dr.
Holt. Excited to hear about her
vision for the district and her
short- and long-term goals,”
Mitter said. “One of her initia-
tives is building partnerships,
and we hope Rotary can be one
of those.”
Holt said she is encouraging
mentoring, community organiza-
tions adopting schools, and has
reached out to the local ministe-
rial group as well as financial
institutions to teachmoney skills.
“Our community is not in its
schools as much as it used to be,”
Holt said. “I love this community,
andwant to do everything I can.”
She and her husband are the
parents of seven children, four
enrolled in the Wayne-Westland
district.
A father accused of killing his 2-
year-old son will face trial April 2
inWayneCountyCircuit Court.
MarcMinter, 30, remains in cus-
tody at the Wayne County Jail
awaiting his next court appear-
ance on charges of felony murder
and two counts of child abuse. His
son, Christian Minter, died in
October of 2016 after emergency
personnel were called to a home
in the 4500 block of Williams
Street in Wayne. The toddler was
transported to a local hospital
wherehe died of injuries.
Police said that an infant girl in
the home, said to be Minter's
daughter, had suffered two broken
legs.
During Minter's preliminary
examination on the charges in
August, a deputy medical examin-
er testified that the 2-year-old
child appeared to have sustained
an injury to his back two weeks
prior to his death as well as anoth-
er blunt force trauma to his back
just prior to his death. The med-
ical examiner testified that the
injuries were consistent with
those usually caused by someone
else.
Minter was originally sched-
uled for trial last month, but the
trial date has beenmoved to April
2. A final conference in the case is
scheduled for Feb. 16 before
Circuit Court JudgeMarkSlavens.
If convicted, Minter faces up to
life inprison.
Julie Brown
Special Writer
We just need
to approach
our learning
a little differently.
”
School leader outlines district goals
Shelley Holt
