• From: Ahmed Ismail <ismaila@gpschools.org>
    Date: Wed, Dec 5, 2018 at 7:55 AM
    Subject: GPPSS - Gafa Email re: Using Plante Moran for Student Enrollment Projections
    To: Judy Gafa (GPPSS) <GafaJ@gpschools.org>
    Cc: Ahmed Ismail (Personal) <ahmed.ismail@comcast.net>, Abbey, Lisa (GPPSS) <lisa.abbey@gpschools.org>, <niehaug@gpschools.org>, <jminnis@grossepointenews.com>, Brush, Mary Anne <mbrush@grossepointenews.com>, <deanM@gpschools.org>, <fannonr@gpschools.org>, School Board (GPPSS) <SchoolBoard@gpschools.org>, <saighw@comcast.net>, Cindy Pangborn (Home) <cindypangborn@gmail.com>



    Mrs. Gafa,

     

    Please accept my apologies for not responding to your email of November 30th earlier.  This time of year with the Holiday rush upon us, I just don't get the chance to check my e-mails as often as I should.

     

    With regards to your comment about my voting to have Plante Moran do our enrollment projections when Mr. Fenton retired, you are correct.  The administration didn't feel they had the in-house skillsets to do the projections and recommended that we hire Plante Moran to fill the void.  I had no reason to doubt Plante Moran's abilities at that time with regards to enrollment projections.  I am sure Plante Moran has an explanation for the anomaly.  I hope that the administration will ask them to give us a memo in this regard rather than going to the expense of having them appear at our December 10 board meeting.  While they may say that showing up at the meeting is pro bono, it is a waste of their time, time which is needed elsewhere for our school system. 

     

    With regards to your comments about our enrollment projections being off by 100 students a decade ago (2008), you are correct.  As was Mr. Fenton's/Dr. Klein's practice, they gave the Board a rough estimate of enrollment in August and more refined estimates in September after the first day of school.  These estimates conintued to be refined though the Fall and were discussed at our work session meetings and at our regular board meetings.  Examples of recorded minutes referencing these updates from August 25, 2008 and September 22, 2008 are attached for your reference.

     

    As of this date, I have not received the student counts requested in my November 30th email (copy below), nor have I received any kind of reply from Dr. Dean.  I find this troubling, as this student count information is readily available and would take all of ten minutes to compile and distribute.  While I can understand the desire to discuss the questions I posed in the second part of my email below at the December 10 board meeting, there is no reason to embargo the student count information requested.  My questions are ones of fact, not opinion.

     

    In closing, while I can't speak for the other members of the board, I am concerned about the unanticipated shortfall and the strain it will put on our maintaining a minimum of 10% in fund equity when the July 2019 audit is completed.  However, I am even more concerned about the timeliness of the board being advised of the student count shortfall.  I am hopeful that our administration will shed some light on this part of the equation by accommodating my request for information below as requested.

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Ahmed

     

     

    Ahmed Ismail, Trustee

    Grosse Pointe Public School System

    313-343-9060 (work phone - 8am - 5pm)

    313-969-1541 (cell phone - 6pm - 10pm)

    ahmed.ismail@comcast.net (personal email address)

     

    Note:  The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the balance of the Board of Trustees and/or the administration of the Grosse Pointe Public School System. Emails sent to or from this email address are accessible by the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).



    On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 4:49 PM Judy Gafa <GafaJ@gpschools.org> wrote:

    Ahmed 

    Just to remind you. Last year when we hired Plante Moran you were very much in favor of them providing us projection numbers 

    I also believe the last year you were on the board prior to running again. The count was off by 100 students 

    Judy

     

     

    On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 4:37 PM Ahmed Ismail <ahmed.ismail@comcast.net> wrote:

    Jon,

     

    Thank you for copying all of us on your response to Wendy Saigh, John Minnis and Mary Anne Brush.

     

    First, has your department taken over the oversight of the enrollment numbers from the Business Department?  I was surprised that your response to some questions that Wendy, John and Mary Anne have apparently asked was from you rather than Lisa Abbey.  As you know, prior to Chris Fenton’s departure, enrollment issues always flowed through his department.

     

    Just so I can get a better handle on this enrollment number issue, please provide the following relative to our student count:

     

    1. The student count as reflected in the final GAAA for the 2017-18 school year;
    2. The student count on which the 2018-19 budget accepted by the Board was built;
    3. The student count on the first day of school (September 2018);
    4. The student count on 2018-19 count day (October 3, 2018);
    5. The student count (as adjusted) on October 17, 2018;
    6. The student count (as adjusted) on November 2, 2018;
    7. The student count (as adjusted) on November 14, 2018 (MSDS);
    8. The student count (as adjusted) on November 15, 2018 (Wayne RESA); and
    9. The student count as certified by Wayne RESA.

     

    In addition to the above, please provide answers to the following:

    1. When was the last time the enrollment projection used for building the school system budget for the year was off by 100 students?
    2. As I recall, we have been contracting with Plante Moran to provide us with budget projections since Chris Fenton left.  Is this correct?
    3. Why did we decide to switch from doing the enrollment projections inhouse to using Plante Moran?
    4. When was Plante Moran made aware of the quantum difference between their projections and our enrollment on the first day of school?
    5. How much do we pay Plante Moran for their student enrollment projection service?
    6. Does this service come with any kind of accuracy guarantee?
    7. When was the first time the potential for being off 100 plus students from our budgeted numbers brought to the attention of Dr. Niehaus?
    8. When was the first time any mention of a potential 100 plus student count shortfall was brought to the attention of President Summerfield?
    9. When did the administration realize that this student count shortfall would trigger President Summerfield’s resolution on building re-purposing?

     

    I hope the above questions are self-explanatory, Jon.  I would appreciate the answers (at least) to the first section regarding student counts by this coming Monday at 5pm.  If you could provide the answers to any remaining unanswered questions by Wednesday of this coming week, it would also be appreciated.  In the chance that you have one or two you for some reason can’t answer by Wednesday, please let me know which questions I won’t have answers to when you send the count information in the first section of questions on Monday afternoon.

     

    Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this request.

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Ahmed