Page 8 — Thursday, February 8, 2024 — The Hastings Banner
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TOWNSHIP OF PRAIRIEVILLE2024 NOTICE OF BOARD OF REVIEW
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Board of Review will meet at the Township Hall, 10115
S. Norris Rd. Delton, Michigan 49046, to examine and review the 2024 assessment roll.
The board will convene on the following dates for the hearing of appeals of assessments
or taxable values, poverty exemptions, parcel classification appeals and/or current year
qualified agricultural denials:Tuesday, March 5, 2024, 10:00 am Organizational Meeting
Monday, March 11, 2024, 1:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 9:00 am to noon and 1:00 to 4:00 pmAnd on such additional days as required to hear all persons who have given notice of the
desire to be heard until assessment rolls have been revised, corrected and approved.APPOINTMENTS ARE SUGGESTED; letter appeals will be accepted and must be
received no later than 5:00 pm the Friday before the first appeal hearing.Tentative ratios and estimated multipliers for 2024 are as follows:
Agricultural 48.32% 1.
Commercial 46.05% 1.
Industrial 47.11% 1.
Residential 45.74% 1.
Personal Property 50.00% 1.Tentative equalization factor of 1.0000 for all classes is expected after
completion of Board of Review.Jim Stoneburner, Supervisor Prairieville Township
Kevin Harris, Assessor Prairieville TownshipPrairieville Township Board Meetings are open to all without regard to race, color, national
origin, sex or disability.American with Disabilities (ADA) Notice
The township will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, to individuals
with disabilities at the meeting/hearing upon seven (7) days’ notice to Prairieville Township.
Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact Prairieville
Township by writing or calling.Prairieville Township Clerk
10115 S. Norris Rd.
Delton, MI 49046
269-623-Planning Commission to review zoning, setback
requirements for South Cass Street neighborhood
Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
Hastings planning commissioners are
seeking input on zoning requirements from
residents living near South Cass Street.
Planning commissioners are exploring
how to best proceed in rezoning a sliver of
properties located between Corewell Health
Pennock Hospital and Hastings High School.
Currently zoned as suburban residential prop-
erties, the commission is considering reclas-
sifying them as residential-two or changing
the setback requirements of those properties.
The issue arose when brought before the
commission by Garry Moyer, a resident of
the 900 block of West Clinton Street. He had
recently moved into the area and was looking
to add a garage to his home when he found he
was limited by the 15-foot minimum setback
required by the R-S zoning requirements.
Upon inquiring about an exemption, city staff
found many of the properties in the zoning
area were legally non-conforming, either due
to not accommodating the 15-foot setback or
falling short of the 15,000-square-foot mini-
mum lot size imposed by R-S requirements.
David Hatfield, planning commission chair
and a resident of the affected neighborhood
himself, said he suspected most of the lots
existed before they were classified as R-S
zoned properties.
“Most of the houses pre-exist R-S, I think,”
Hatfield said. “I would guess over half of
them are nonconforming with the R-S.”
Commissioners worked with city consul-
tant Rebecca Harvey to find the best way to
proceed, either by rezoning Moyer’s property
or amending the minimum setback require-
ments throughout the neighborhood. Com-
missioners voted to hold a public hearing
exploring both options at their 7 p.m. March
4 meeting.Parental rights vs. oversight: Debate over
proposed Michigan homeschool registry
Liz Nass
Bridge Michigan
LANSING – Homeschool families in
Michigan say they’re worried about a pro-
posed requirement to register all school-aged
children with their local school district or
public agency.
However, most homeschool families want
the current system to remain with no manda-
tory registration, advocates say.
Currently in Michigan and 10 other states,
it is optional for homeschooling parents to
notify their local school district or other agen-
cy about what their children are learning.
That policy has been in place since 1993,
when the Michigan Supreme Court reversed
a requirement that homeschoolers must be
licensed teachers. Other regulations were
later dropped, making Michigan one of the
most lax states in overseeing homeschooling.
A new proposal from the Education Depart-
ment is meant to safeguard student safety and
ensure all children get some form of educa-
tion, said Michael Rice, the state superinten-
dent of public instruction.
In a letter from Rice, the department said a
legislative priority is to register every child
being schooled, whether public, private,
parochial or homeschooled.
Rice’s letter noted “a history in Michigan
and across the nation of some children not
receiving any education at all, in particularly
egregious cases in abusive or neglected envi-
ronments.”
Homeschool organizations called the poli-
cy proposal “categorical discrimination”
against the families they represent.
Israel Wayne is the vice president of the
Michigan Christian Homeschool Network
representing 11,000 families.
He predicted thousands of families who
moved to Michigan for a homeschool -friend-
ly environment will leave if the regulations
change.
Wayne said those families disagree with
the department’s proposal, saying it’s geared
towards increasing opportunities for public
school students rather than homeschool stu-
dents’ safety.
Wayne claims that Rice has been looking
for a way to get students back into the public
school system since the COVID-19 pandemic
began in 2020 and that homeschool students
represent a significant financial loss in state
aid for public education.
However, when asked about increasing
regulations beyond registration, the chair of
the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Dayna
Polehanki, D-Livonia, said, “Not on my
watch.”
Polehanki said there is no legislation yet
based on the department’s proposal, but some
bills “are in the pipeline.” She said she
believes the legislation will focus on counting
students rather than surveilling them, with the
goals of ensuring there are no “missing chil-
dren” and that instruction is happening in
those homes.
Polehanki explained the ideal process: The
Department of Health and Human Servicesanticipates, based on birth rates, how many
students should be entering school and then
compares it to the notifications of students
starting school.
“It’s a simple counting thing, and then the
state leaves it alone,” Polehanki said.
Another concern is student safety.
In December, Attorney Gen. Dana Nessel
charged four adoptive families in Clinton
County with child abuse for allegedly using
homeschooling as a guise to abuse the children.
After the charges were filed, Nessel tweet-
ed that “the homeschooling environment
allowed abuse to go unnoticed” and that
“implementing monitoring mechanisms is
crucial to ensure that all children, including
those homeschooled, receive necessary pro-
tections.”
A 2018 study by Connecticut’s Office of
the Child Advocate found that 36% of chil-
dren removed from school to be homes-
chooled lived with families with a history of
reported child abuse or neglect. Connecticut
is also a no-registration, low-regulation
homeschool state.
Wayne argued that “simply having a regis-
tration of homeschoolers does not in any way
prevent child abuse.”
He said homeschoolers pull children out of
public schools for a myriad of problems the
parents believe they can fix at home.
Lindsay Perry, a member of the Grand Tra-
verse County-based Michigan Homeschool
Enrichment Network, pulled her third-grader
out of public school because she felt her son’s
Individualized Education Program, based on
medical problems and autism, wasn’t being
carried out.
Perry said she found it easier to teach her
child at his own pace, able to take time for phys-
ical wellness and customizing his education.
Perry said she worries that if the state
starts regulating now, she and other parentswill have to stop their “unschooling” strate-
gy, which she explained is a holistic
approach to learning, picking up life skills
along with standard public school educa-
tion.
Her position is simple: “I don’t think it’s
really any of their business.”
Ben Shultz of Traverse City, a father in the
Michigan Homeschool Enrichment Network,
was homeschooled himself until he graduat-
ed in 1998.
Shultz said he believes the department’s
interest in more regulation came with the
huge jump in parents pulling their children
from public schools due to the pandemic and
mandates like mask-wearing that parents dis-
agreed with.
The numbers reflect this: in the first six
months of the pandemic, the number of
homeschooled children in Michigan more
than doubled from 5.3% to 11.3%, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“It seems like they’re coming in and trying
to come after our children on the heels of
that,” Shultz said.
Rep. Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, who has
spoken extensively in favor of homeschool
oversight, said any regulation would simply
ask parents to “check a box” and wouldn’t
stop them from homeschooling.
“I’ve heard the argument that this is a
violation of privacy, and I would remind
people that you also file a birth certificate
with the state,” Koleszar said. “You also
claim children on taxes in a lot of cases.”
Koleszar said his words have been twisted
to accuse him of believing all homeschool-
ers are abusers, and said he only wants a
safety check for homeschooled students.
“I think a majority of homeschool parents
do a fantastic job, and to me, this is about
protecting kids and accounting for kids,”
Koleszar said.State awards $17.5 million
to prepare Lowell Township’s
Covenant Business Park
for development
A large plot of land in nearby Lowell
Township is being prepped for potential
development, and it received a major finan-
cial boost from the state last week.
Economic development firm The Right
Place, Inc., and project partners Franklin
Partners and Lowell Charter Township
announced they have received $17.5 mil-
lion from the Michigan Economic Devel-
opment Corporation’s (MEDC) new Stra-
tegic Site Readiness Program (SSRP) to
help prepare the 237-acre Covenant Busi-
ness Park in Lowell Township for industri-
al and commercial use.
The Lowell site is one of 18 statewide
projects announced as recipients of the
funds at this week’s Michigan Strategic
Fund board meeting.
The SSRP provides financial incentives
to eligible applicants to conduct activities
on or related to strategic sites in Michigan
to create a statewide inventory of invest-
ment-ready sites that will attract and pro-
mote investment in the state. The program
provides access to grants, loans and other
economic assistance.
In its announcement to the project team,
the MEDC noted that the Lowell site is
strategic for the region and that the funds
will help make progress on preparing the
property to become a premier site. Theaward letter also noted that the property
will become a critical offering and help
MEDC build a strong pipeline of sites
across the state
The funds awarded represent 50 percent
of the $35 million needed to get the site
“shovel-ready” for development. Most
work will center on infrastructure efforts,
primarily sewer extension and connection.
The parcel, which is zoned PUD for
industrial and commercial use, is located at
the southwest corner of Cascade Road and
Alden Nash, just north of I-96; with prox-
imity to a major highway and the Gerald R.
Ford International Airport.
Travis Alden, senior director of commu-
nity development at The Right Place and
the project’s lead, formally submitted the
request last October. The site owner and
developer, Franklin Partners, and real
estate broker Advantage Commercial Real
Estate are also assisting with the project.
The team’s application received written
support from Michael Burns, Lowell’s City
Manager; Jerry Hale, Lowell Charter
Township’s Supervisor; and state represen-
tatives Rep. Joe Tate, Rep. Angela Witwer,
Rep. Gina Johnsen, and Rep. Phil Skaggs.
The project team held three community
open houses to help area residents and
interested parties learn more about the site.EDITOR’S NOTE:
This issue of the Banner may look and feel different. Due to shipping delays from our paper supplier, we utilized slightly different paper
to print this week’s newspaper on. This is just a temporary measure and the paper should be printed as normal next week. Thank you for
reading. – Jayson BussaThis graphic shows the rough plans for the future Covenant Business Park, a
237-acre site located in Lowell Township, near Alto. (Photos provided)A rendering of what could potentially become of the future Covenant Business
Park in Lowell Township.The Hastings Planning Commission will be holding a public hearing next month
regarding the zoning and setback requirements of properties in the outlined area near
South Cass Street. (Illustration provided)