MDPS Trustee Merri Busch

EFFECTIVE 3/15/2025, THIS PAGE IS NO LONGER ACTIVE.
It has been a privilege to be on the Board of Trustees.

Dear Community Members:

This letter is to inform you that I am resigning my position as a Trustee at MDPS. As you are aware, I originally sought to be appointed to one of three vacancies and then ran a successful write in campaign when there was only three people running for four seats. I supported the District when there were few other candidates.

We currently have two very well qualified people to be appointed to fill the now two vacancies on the Board. They are both willing and able to step onto the board and with appropriate training and development will become highly skilled board members.

I have some parting words:
First, I want to acknowledge that the staff at all the buildings are doing an impressive job with what they have—aging buildings that shows significant wear in places. I am very glad the Sinking Fund passed.

That said, I was surprised to see that only about 40% of the building is in use at ECC, and even less at the high school. I was concerned when I asked about getting a census of the number of unused classrooms and a forecast of how many students we would need to recruit for the income to allow for full building use and a more vibrant curriculum: swimming classes, a librarian in every building, real science labs, a fuller music program, etc., and was asked whose job it was to provide that information. Shouldn't that data be foundational to our enrollment and financial focus?

And while increased enrollment is being addressed through expanding our geographic reach, I'm not sure it is being driven by real market data. It seems that the Board has no unified clear cut, written vision to guide our Superintendent. It is not enough to guide our future using the past as our roadmap. We have no scientific collection of competitor data, no hypothesis of the reality of achieving set enrollment goals; no specific written plan, with measurable goals, in a specific time frame.

Do we have target enrollment goals for each building, and strategies in place to meet them?

More broadly, how do we realistically expect to counteract the nationwide decline in public school enrollment?

We are considering spending Sinking Fund money to rehabilitate entire facilities while large sections—such as the media center at the ECC and half the rooms at the high school—sit empty.

In my experience, expecting people to achieve results in an environment that lacks the necessary conditions to achieve whether due to insufficient resources or the realistic ability to overcome external obstacles—is setting them up for failure, no matter how talented they are. We should do better at supporting Ms. Perry as she continues to grow into an experienced Superintendent.

We must create a sustainable future for MDPS. We have asked taxpayers to commit $2M annually for the next decade to maintain facilities that are only partially utilized.

My concerns deepened after a local resident accused us of "squandering" funds. I defended the district’s fiscal responsibility, but I recognize that even critics often have a kernel of truth in their arguments. Objectively speaking, investing in maintenance and repairs for underutilized buildings, without a clear plan to grow enrollment by at least 100-200 students PER YEAR over five years, is not a sound financial decision. If this were a business, a management consultant would be hired to assist the Superintendent in developing such a plan. You might want to consider finding a SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives at SCORE.org) consultant, they provide guidance for free as a community service to small business. Ours is a small business problem: acquiring customers/students to better utilize or capacity.

I strongly urge the Board to commit to a bold, transformative plan to position MDPS as a high-performing magnet district that attracts families and delivers exceptional education. We need to go beyond surface-level "rebranding" with new logos or colors. We need a real marketing and operational strategy:

• Identify our competitors, understand their strengths, make our opportunities from their challenges and carve out our own niche.

• Promote what we do better than other schools and actively market that advantage. (Latch key, support service of OT, mental health, etc., specialized services to get children to grade level proficiency, a child could get lost in a big impersonal school district, we aren't THAT!, etc.)

• Make our schools stand out by offering a compelling educational model, such as:

- A specialized program that brings underachieving students to grade level within one school year through individualized instruction and state-of-the-art tutoring.

- A focus on collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, supported by high-quality STEMA classrooms.

- A restructured parental involvement program, where parents commit to active participation—reading to their children, attending parenting and enrichment classes, and engaging with mentor parents, structured family enrichment programs. (Like our Science Night and International Fair.)

I believe with a more urgent transformation, MDPS will thrive, not just exist.

Personally, I do not have the patience for committee work. My time on the board has made this clear to me. I therefore leave the future of MDSP in the very capable hands of Ms. Perry and the school board.

Good luck! I'll always vote in favor of the kids!

Respectfully,
Merri Busch

State of Education in Michigan:

Improvements in Michigan’s Public Schools Highlighted During State Board Meeting Learn more about the MDE office responsible for providing leadership in curriculum and instruction that provides students with greater choices to prepare for success.

I support the opinion of our State Superintendent. While MDPS only gets about 5% of its funding from the federal government, it is an important amount of money in the service of our children and their education.

One of our very own MDPS teachers!!!

Don’t forget to vote daily for the next 10 days! She is currently in 5th place! She got to first at one point so please dont stop voting!

Is Rusty Rogers America's Favorite Teacher? Teaching is my a part of who I am. There is no better moment than when a student learns something that they have struggled with.

In January, the MDPS Board of Education approved the budget amendment, common halfway through the school year.

There are people who believe the District is in debt. We are not. Our general fund balance is lower than recommended and we are striving to correct that.

This is a public record. I'm sharing it for interested parties.
We are continuing to strive for academic excellence and providing a safe and healthy place for our children to learn and grow!

I regret to inform our MDPS family that my sister, Trustee April Anselmo, has resigned from the MDPS Board of Education.

If you are interested in filling the vacancy and completing her term, please see the notice below. Please share this to interested parties.
We are looking for logical, thoughtful people who are committed to the education of the students in our community.

The only requirements are that you be a registered voter and reside with the Madison District Public Schools area.

A reminder why vouchers are bad for the community and our society.

Have some memory making fun!

Follow our link below! Registration is open!

https://bit.ly/DDBowling25