Flint Community Schools

Flint Community Schools
Address
923 E. Kearsley St Flint , Genesee , Michigan, 48503 United States
District information
Type	Public
Grades	PreK–12 [1]
Superintendent	Kevelin B. Jones II [2]
Schools	11 schools, including 3 secondary schools [3]
Budget	Operating expenditures 2021-2022 $67,530,000 [1]
NCES District ID	2614520 [1]
Students and staff
Students	2,886 (2023–2024) [1]
Teachers	143.3 (on an FTE basis) [1]
Staff	445.86 (on an FTE basis) [1]
Student–teacher ratio	20.14:1 [1]
Other information
Website	www.flintschools.org

Flint Community Schools is a school district headquartered in Flint, Michigan, United States. Its boundary includes almost all of the city limits. ^[4]

In the last fifty years, the Flint Community Schools district has endured the same hardships that have shaped the city of Flint. Due to the role of General Motors, the city had nearly 200,000 residents and 47,867 public school students in 1968. Enrollment numbers dropped steadily until the 2022-2023 school year, when there were 2,840 students and about 80,000 residents. ^{[5] [6]}

History

A union school district was organized in Flint in the 1870s, and the town chose the unfinished city hall, at the corner of Saginaw and Third Streets, to be the high school in 1875. Flint's high school was located in this building until a new building, Flint High School, was built in 1923. ^[7] It became Central High School when Flint Northern High School was built in 1928. ^[8]

As the Great Migration increased the Black population in Flint, Flint Community Schools practiced racial segregation into the 1960s. Although there was no written policy of discrimination, the district reinforced de facto segregation that existed in the neighborhoods. Boundaries of school attendance areas were often drawn according to race, and majority-Black schools were overcrowded while all-white schools nearby were under capacity. ^[9] To address a federal desegregation order, the district created a system of magnet schools in the early 1970s that any student could attend. This system contributed to the lifting of the desegregation order in 2002. ^[10]

The current mission statement of "developing a community of learners who are prepared to live, work, and contribute to an ever changing society" was developed by Walter Milton, who became Superintendent in 2005. Milton subsequently wrote a book entitled Me in the Making which included a chapter on his stormy tenure in Flint. ^[11]

For the 2011-2012 school year, the Flint Community Schools had both middle schools, four elementary schools and one high school placed in the bottom 5% of all schools in the State of Michigan based on student achievement and attendance. ^[12]

In November 2012, Superintendent Linda Thompson announced her retirement. ^[13] Thompson assumed the Superintendentship in 2008 and set about downsizing the District by closing schools. In late 2011 the District was found to be running a deficit of 3.7 million dollars by the accounting firm of Yeo and Yeo. ^[14] In early 2012 the Flint School Board opted not to extend Superintendent Thompson's contract beyond the current year, citing the deficit and her previous effectiveness rating of 2.7 out a possible 4.0 points. ^[15]

In December 2012, Lawrence Watkins Jr. was selected to serve as the Districts Interim Superintendent. ^[16] Larry Watkins helped the Flint School District usher in a comprehensive educational plan, negotiate concessions from bargaining units and collaborate with community organizations to bring back the community education model. At the same time, Watkins saw Flint schools' deficit grow from $4 million to $21.9 million in a little over two years, thousands of students leave the district and numerous school buildings closed. ^[17] On April 8, 2015, Mr. Watkins announced his retirement. ^[18]

In August 2018, Flint Community Schools selected Derrick Lopez, JD as its new Superintendent. ^[19] One of his first acts was to secure funding from the Elon Musk Foundation in the amount of $480,350 to replace each water fountain in all of the Flint Community Schools with new water stations and two filtration systems: carbon filtration to remove the lead and ultraviolet filtration to remove other chemicals and soluble particulates.^{[ citation needed ]}

As of December 2018, Flint Community Schools have agreed to switch to the balanced school calendar for the 2019-2020 school year. This will affect all schools in the district. Freeman was the only school with a balanced calendar before the change.^{[ citation needed ]}

In June 2020, Anita Steward took over the helm at Flint Community Schools. Before becoming the superintendent, Mrs. Steward was the Assistant Superintendent. ^[20]

Schools ^[21]

School	Address	Built	Notes
Accelerated Learning Academy	1602 S. Averill		Formerly Scott Elementary School
Anderson Elementary School	3248 Mackin Road	1965	Closed in 2009, sold in 2015 to Empowered Enterprise Inc., abandoned
Brownell Elementary School	6302 Oxley Dr.		Grades K-2, STEM School (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)
Bryant Elementary	201 E. Pierson Road		Formerly Bryant Jr. High, closed in 2013
Bunche Elementary	4121 Martin Luther King Blvd.		Now Bunche Community Center
Carpenter Road Elementary			Closed in 2015
Central High School	601 Crapo St	1923	Closed in 2009
Civic Park Elementary School	1402 W. Dayton St.	1922	Closed in 2009, abandoned
Cook Elementary	500 Welch Blvd.		Closed in 2002
Coolidge Elementary School	3615 Van Buren Ave.	1928	Closed in 2011, sold to Communities First Inc. for office and housing use
Cummings Elementary School			Became Great Expectations Early Childhood Center in 2016
Dewey Elementary School	4119 N. Saginaw St.		Now the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village
Doyle/Ryder Education Center	1040 N. Saginaw St	1902	Incorporates 1902 Doyle School
Dort Elementary	601 E. Witherbee St.		Closed in 2013
Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary School	1518 University Ave.		Active elementary school
Eisenhower Elementary School	1235 Pershing Street		Active elementary school
Freeman Elementary School	4001 Ogema Ave		Active elementary school
Garfield Elementary School	301 E. McClellan St.	1928	Closed in 2009
Gundry Community Elementary School	6031 Dupont St.		Closed 2008, Now Cathedral of Faith Ministries
Holmes STEM Middle School Academy	6602 Oxley Dr.		Formerly Holmes Elementary
Jefferson Elementary School	5306 North Street		Last used as Northridge Academy, later 2nd Chance Baptist Church of Flint, abandoned
Johnson Elementary School	5323 Western Road	1967	Closed in 2006, last used as Johnson AAA School
King Elementary School	520 W. Rankin St.		Closed
Lawndale Avenue Elementary School	3115 Lawndale Avenue		Now St. Luke's N.E.W. Life Center
Lincoln Elementary School	2820 S. Saginaw St.		Became International Academy of Flint charter school in 1999
Longfellow Middle School	1255 N. Chevrolet Ave.		Closed in 2006
Lowell Jr. High	3301 N Vernon Ave	1929	Alternative middle school from 1988-2003, abandoned
Manley Elementary School	3002 Farley Street		Abandoned
McKinley Middle School	4501 Camden Ave.	1929	Closed in 2012
Merrill Elementary School	1501 W. Moore St	1953	Closed in 2009
Neithercut Elementary School	2010 Crestbrook Ln.		Active elementary school
Northern High School	3284 Mackin Rd.	1971	Renamed Northern Academy, closed in 2014
Northwestern High School	G-2138 Carpenter Rd.	1964	Renamed Flint Junior High in 2018, closed in 2020
Oak Elementary School	1000 Oak Street	1890	Closed in 1976, reopened in 2014 as Oak Street Senior Housing
Pierce Elementary School			Now Pierce Creative Arts Community School charter school
Potter Elementary School	2500 N Averill Ave.		Active elementary school
Selby Academy			Sold and became Eagles Nest Academy in 2015
Sobey Elementary School	3701 N. Averill Avenue		Closed 2003, now Boys & Girls Club of Greater Flint
Southwestern Classical Academy	1420 W 12th St.	1959 [22]	Formerly Southwestern High School
Stewart Elementary School	1950 Burr Blvd.	1955	Closed in 2009
Summerfield Elementary School	1360 Milbourne Ave.	1970	Closed in 2012, reopened as early childcare center
Whittier Middle School	800 Crapo Street	1925	Closed in 2008
Wilkins Elementary	121 E. York Ave.		Closed in 2010
Williams Elementary	3501 Minnesota Ave.		Closed in 2010
Zimmerman Elementary School	2421 Corunna Rd.		Closed in 2013

Demolished Schools

School	Address	Built	Notes
Clark Elementary School	Harrison St	1912	Closed in 1977, demolished in 2014
Cody Elementary School	3201 Fenton Road		Closed in 2003, demolished in December 2012
Northern High School (1st one) later Emerson Jr. High	McClellan St.	1928	Later became The Flint Academy, demolished
Homedale Elementary School	1501 Davison Road	1914	Closed in 2003, added onto in 1922 & 1966, burned on September 11, 2010, now a vacant lot
Kennedy School	Saginaw Street		Alternative school, after closing Schools of Choice opened as a replacement, demolished in 2011
Lewis Elementary School		1911	Became Lowell Jr. High Annex in 1978, demolished in 1991
Washington Elementary School	1400 N. Vernon Avenue	1922	Closed in 2013, burned down October 7, 2021, demolished
Martin Community Elementary School	6502 Stafford Place	1924	Closed in 2002, razed in 2011, now vacant lot
Pierson Elementary School	300 E. Mott Ave.		Closed in 2002, demolished in 2013
Stevenson Elementary School	6th Ave.	1911	Became Rankin School, demolished
School of Choice	517 E. 5th Avenue		Formerly St. Michael's High School, became The Center For Hope in 2010, demolished in 2017

References

1. "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Flint School District of the City of". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
2. Flint Community Schools. "Superintendent's Office" . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
3. Flint Community Schools. "Schools" . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
4. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Genesee County, MI" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved May 6, 2023.
5. Ballotpedia. "Flint City School District, Michigan" . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
6. Adams, Dominic (October 7, 2015). "The rise and fall of Flint School District enrollment over a century". MLive. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
7. Hinterman, Peter (May 3, 2021). "Education and Excellent: Flint Central High School". My City.
8. The students of Flint Central High School (1928). The 1928 Prospectus (Flint Central High School 1928 Yearbook. p. 3-5.
9. Michigan Civil Rights Commission (February 17, 2017). "The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint" (PDF). Retrieved January 31, 2025.
10. Adams, Dominic (May 16, 2014). "60 years after landmark court ruling four Flint schools 'intensely segregated'". MLive.
11. Journal|accessdate=February 11, 2008 http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal|publisher=Flint Journal|accessdate=February 11, 2008
12. "Priority Schools List" (PDF). State of Michigan Department of Education. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
13. "Flint Schools Superintendent Linda Thompson will retire, submits 90-day notice". MLive.com. November 16, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
14. Campbell, Robert (November 17, 2011). East Village Magazine.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
15. Thorne, Blake (March 28, 2012). The Flint Journal.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
16. "Larry Watkins selected as interim superintendent at Flint School District". MLive.com. December 19, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
17. "'Right time' to exit, says retiring Flint schools chief Larry Watkins". MLive.com. April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
18. "'Right time' to exit, says retiring Flint schools chief Larry Watkins". MLive.com. April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
19. "New Flint schools superintendent inks three-year contract". August 17, 2018.
20. Keefer, Winter (June 20, 2020). "Anita Steward takes over as Flint Community Schools superintendent".
21. Flint Community Schools. "Schools" . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
22. Flint Community Schools (1960). Spectrum 60 (Southwestern High School 1960 Yearbook. p. 3-5.

External links

• Flint Community Schools
• Flint Community Schools at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
• GASC Technology Center