EASTPOINTE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Eastpointe Community Schools has three schools on the state's low-achieving schools list, including Eastpointe High School.
Students at Eastpointe High say for them, missing out on crucial in-class time during the pandemic has had a huge impact on their learning.
"Do you guys feel like the pandemic held you back in your learning?" Sarah Grimmer asked Eastpointe High School students Miracle "MJ" Johnson and Kayla Mcintosh.
"I feel like it just made me lazy. You’re sitting on your bed with your computer there," said Johnson, a junior at Eastpointe High School.
"Since the pandemic hit, it brought my grades down," said Mcintosh, a senior at the school.
Johnson and Mcintosh are two high school students who are bright, charismatic and well aware of the low test scores at their school.
"I seen a lot of peoples’ test scores mainly because they told me and showed me what their test scores were and they were kinda bad," Mcintosh revealed.
In fact, at Eastpointe High School, students are scoring in the bottom 5% on Michigan's School Index System, which lists the school as one of 112 schools now identified on the Michigan Department of Education's (MDE) 2022 list as “low performing.”
"You know I don’t judge anybody because of a test score, but I’m like ‘dang,’" MJ said.
Schools either make the list because of the low test scores, or because they have a graduation rate of 67% or less.
"Of course, it’s not a great thing to be identified, but it’s also not a terribly big surprise. The pandemic really, really impacted our students," said Caitlyn Kienitz, the communications and marketing coordinator for Eastpointe Community Schools.
State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice has cited the pandemic, as well as the underfunding of Michigan's public schools, including educator compensation, as major reasons the list has grown significantly since 2018. That year, 86 schools were on the list. In 2022, there are 112.
"That sounds bad," MJ said.
It’s not great news, but it does have positive aspects. School districts that are on the list are required to enter into partnership plans with the state where they will be given state support in the form of funding and classroom resources and support.
"We’ll have somebody with the MDE who will be working with us to help find the places where the schools need support, where our students need support," Kienitz said.
"What are the top ways Eastpointe will work to get test scores up within the next three years?" Grimmer asked Kienitz.
"We have social workers in each building. We are hiring 10 new academic paraprofessionals to work throughout the district and that’s huge," Kienitz said.
Eastpointe schools sent out a letter making parents aware of the list, stating their plans and asking for parents support to address student absenteeism.
Test scores may be low post-pandemic, but hopes are still high for students like Kayla who hopes to use her education to pursue a career in social work, and MJ who dreams of one day becoming an architect.
"As long as everyone gets the proper help that they need, I think there is a bright future for everyone," Mcintosh said.
"I just want parents to know that we want to do this for your children, we care about your children and we need your help too," said Kienitz.
To view the Michigan Department of Education's (MDE) 2022 School Index System list, click here.
