The School District of the City of Pontiac (or Pontiac School District, PSD) is a public

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

headquartered in the Odell Nails Administration Building in

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

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. The school district serves all of the city of Pontiac, portions of

Auburn Hills Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Before incorporating as a city in 1983, the area was part of the now-defunct ...

Lake Angelus Lake Angelus is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is an affluent suburb of Detroit, with one of the highest per capita incomes of any community in the state. History In the early 1900s, a small community formed around th ...

and Sylvan Lake as well as segments of the townships of Bloomfield, Orion,

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, and West Bloomfield. The 2021 Board of Education consists of - Gill Garrett - President, Kenyada Bowman - Vice-President, William A. Carrington - Trustee, Caroll Y. Turpin - Trustee, Shaquana Davis-Smith-Treasurer, Michael McGuinness -Secretary and Kevin Groce - Trustee. Kelley Williams is the Superintendent. The 2019 Board of Education consists of - William A. Carrington - President, Sherman Williams II – Vice-President, Caroll Y. Turpin - Secretary, Shaquana Davis-Smith - Trustee, Kenyada Bowman - Trustee, Mike McGuinness - Trustee and Kerry Tolbert - Trustee. Kelley Williams is the Superintendent.

History

In the 1960s the student body increased and the school district used high salaries to recruit teachers as the automobile industry economy prospered. A February 1970 court order from federal judge Damon J. Keith ordered racial integration effective fall 1970 to ameliorate

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

racial segregation. According to the court order, no more than 40% of each school was to be African-American. The busing was to affect 10,000 students. In August 1971 several school buses were bombed with dynamite, and ten men were indicted in charges related to the incidents; one of them was an ex-

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Grand Dragon Ku Klux Klan (KKK) nomenclature has evolved over the order's nearly 160 years of existence. The titles and designations were first laid out in the original Klan's prescripts of 1867 and 1868, then revamped with William J. Simmons's ''Kloran'' of 1 ...

in the state. On October 25, 1971 the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decided not to hear an opposition to the court order, keeping it in effect. The busing order contributed to area racial tensions. That, along with an increase in unemployment, a loss of political support for school taxation due to an increase of the average age of the residents, financially harmed the district. As of 1981 20% of the area's residents were 65 and older, and a total of 58% of the community residents were at least 46 years of age; residents voted down tax millage proposals on eight occasions during the years 1979 to 1981. There was a 23% unemployment rate as of 1981. From 1972 to circa 1982 the enrollment declined from 21,028 to 17,216. In 1981 extracurricular activities were sharply reduced, and several athletes left the district due to the loss of athletic programs; they attended public schools in other school districts and private schools. In June 2013 the

Michigan Education Association The Michigan Education Association (MEA), headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, is a labor union representing more than 157,000 teachers, faculty and education support staff throughout the state. Usually referred to as a “teachers' union” it ...

's health insurance division stated that it was owed $11 million in premiums from the Pontiac district, so it planned to end benefits for teachers of the district on July 31 of that year; according to a lawsuit settlement, taxpayers in the district were required to pay $7.8 million of it. Administrators, secretaries, and teachers had been paying over 20% of their health care premiums out of pocket. On Wednesday July 3, 2013 the state of Michigan conducted a preliminary review of the district, and the result was an indication of "probable financial stress".

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Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previ ...

stated that he was going to have a full review of the district conducted by a team appointed by him.

Demographics

In 1971 the district had 24,000 students, with 32% of them being black. In 1972-1973 there were 21,028. In the 1980-1981 school year the student body numbered 18,099. This declined to 17,216 students in 1982, with 27% of the students receiving welfare and a total of 37% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunches, a sign of poverty. A principal of an elementary school, Mattie McKinney, stated to the

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that, in the agency's words, "The district's poverty is unusually striking this school year", and she directly stated that she had encountered more poverty in her students than she had previously. The district enrollment was projected to further decrease after 1982.

School uniform

All students are required to wear

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shir ...

s. The school board considered adding uniforms in 2009.Oakland County news briefs
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Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

''. June 24, 2009. A4 Metro. Retrieved on November 27, 2011.

Schools

*Grades 9-12 ** Pontiac High School **International Technology Academy High School *Grades 7-8 **Pontiac Middle School *Grades 6-8 **International Technology Academy *Grades K-6 **Alcott Elementary School **Herrington Elementary School **Jefferson/Whittier Elementary School **Owen Elementary School **Rogers Elementary School **Whitman Elementary School **WHRC Elementary School *Preschool **Frost Preschool (P.E.A.C.E Academy) *Other campuses **Kennedy Center Former schools *

Pontiac Central High School Pontiac Central High School was one of two public high schools in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. It had been an accredited high school from September 4, 1849, until its closing on June 12, 2009. By December 2008 administrators had plans to con ...

Archive
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Pontiac Northern High School Pontiac Northern High School was a public high school in Pontiac, Michigan. It was established on September 2, 1958, and was consolidated with Pontiac Central High School Pontiac Central High School was one of two public high schools in Pont ...

By December 2008 administrators were making plans to consolidate Pontiac Northern and Central high schools.

References

External links