MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Marquette Area Public Schools (MAPS) are working hard before the school year, starting September 2. As staffing prepares, Superintendent Zack Sedgwick says it’s never too early for parents to prepare as well, pulling their students out of the summer mindset.
Off the bat this year, MAPS plans to focus on its student’s overall social and emotional needs, by implementing stronger support systems throughout the school district.
“We’re thinking about how we can help students develop coping skills, because you learn that those barriers that don’t necessarily fall within your core academics, or what you would think of as school educationally, are some of the biggest barriers that students are facing,” said Sedgwick.
With MAPS buildings averaging around 65 years old, this year Sedgwick says the district is looking into improving its existing infrastructure, utilizing community support along the way.
It’s clear that that is a great need and a potential barrier to student learning, so we’re working on plans,” said Sedgwick. “We’re soon going to be putting out some information opportunities to engage our community on how we can address our infrastructure.”
Along with a currently incomplete state budget, it’s unknown how much funding the district will receive later in the year, leading to potential cuts to programs like free student meals.
“We’re trying to get a school year going without having a budget for our general fund,” he said. “For specific programming like free breakfast and lunch that’s been instrumental in helping us remove barriers, we don’t know whether there’s going to be funding for that program.”
While state level information and infrastructure plans are still in progress, the district will stay up to date throughout the year. More information can be found at mapsnet.org.
