Dear Northwest Families,
I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween last night! I am so glad the weather held off for both our parade and evening Trick-or-Treating! Here are just a couple updates/reminders for you.
Upcoming Changes to the Attendance Process
In light of some upcoming county-wide updates to attendance, I wanted to share an important point today: if your child sees a health professional, please remember to request a medical note. This note is necessary to officially excuse the absence and keep it from counting toward unexplained or explained absences, which we will be monitoring more closely. More details about these attendance updates will be shared soon.
Reminder to Vote
If you haven’t voted yet, please remember to do so! One of the important issues on the ballot is the LESA Special Education Restoration or Renewal. To ensure accuracy, I’ve included information directly from the LESA website for your reference.
“Programs & Impact
The special education millage funds a variety of programs including:
Unified Sports Program: Teams for basketball, bocci, pom, and soccer, pairing peers with special needs students through Special Olympics.
Wrap Program: Work readiness training for high school students, focusing on job skills and community integration.
Peer-to-Peer Program: Social skills and integration support, pairing general education peers with special education peers.
START Grant: Autism research and training facilitated by Carrier.
Assistive Technology: Communication tools and other technology for students with disabilities.
Hearing Impaired Program: Support for hearing-impaired students, including specialized schools and transportation services.
Behavioral Support Programs: Smaller classroom settings with paraeducator staff to support students with behavioral needs.
Renewing and restoring the special education millage would ensure that programs and tools like these continue for our students with special needs. The renewal would impact all students by continuing funding for special education programs used by more than 3,500 students. It also helps make up some of the funding gap left by insufficient federal and state funding that otherwise would be drawn from the general fund, reducing resources for all Livingston students.”
The supports highlighted above in bold are funded in part by the special education millage and directly impact us at Northwest. If the millage is not renewed, the district would still be legally required to provide services, possibly affecting funding for programs supporting all students.
Yours in education,
Craig Munro
Principal