Kim Carter:
I’m walking these schools, and I’m talking with children, and I’m seeing their potential, but the stories about them do not magnify the beauty of every individual child that I’ve been coming into contact with. I’m hearing the stories of how even the students in Battle Creek Public Schools began to see themselves as less than, and it angered me. And I thought, oh no, we’re not doing this, so let’s go. We’re going to create change, and I am committed to creating a better opportunity for you. A better school district, a school district that not just you deserve, but a school district that deserves you.

Alec Patton:
This is High Tech High Unboxed, I’m Alec Patton, and that was the voice of Dr. Kim Carter, superintendent of Battle Creek Public Schools in Michigan. I wanted to talk to Kim because of the remarkable things that have been happening in Battle Creek. A decade ago, Battle Creek was losing about 300 students every year. Two years ago, enrollment actually increased, and they’ve been able to hold it steady since then. The teacher retention rate has also gone up from 76% in 2019 to 88% in 2025. And here’s one more statistic which shows just how comprehensive Kim’s work at Battle Creek has been. A decade ago, the kindergarten readiness rate at Battle Creek was only 15.5%. Last year, the kindergarten readiness rate was 47.3%. To really understand how remarkable these numbers are, we need to know a little more about Battle Creek. Here’s Kim.

Kim Carter:
New York University did a study of Battle Creek Public Schools and the education system that is in this area, and what they found was that Battle Creek Public School serves concentrated vulnerability. And what I mean by that is, although the city itself is less than 20% minority, the school district is 60% minority. And so, within the city limits, there are two separate school districts, families have segregated themselves into these two school districts, and out-migration has become a problem, which has then created concentrated vulnerability and higher levels of economically disadvantaged families and students.

Alec Patton:
Was that the BC Vision study?

Kim Carter:
Yes.

Alec Patton:
I read a little bit about that, and the other way of framing that I read is that the Battle Creek Public Schools District is 69% white, but the student population is 36% white.

Kim Carter:
Correct, yes.

Alec Patton:
And those other white students, are they going to private schools within the district?

Kim Carter:
No, they’re actually going to public schools that are very nearby. And so, that’s part of Michigan’s schools of choice, the implications of the schools of choice policy.

Alec Patton:
An important thing to note just from reading about the study is that this isn’t just a school’s thing, that Battle Creek, the area had an 18% unemployment rate in 2017, and that was three times higher than neighboring areas.

Kim Carter:
Yes, correct. And so, you can see that there are significant challenges for families that we’re trying to overcome and eliminate some of the barriers that exist in order for them to access a high quality public education.

Alec Patton:
Battle Creek is known locally as Cereal City, because it has been the headquarters of Kellogg’s Cereal since 1906. As Kellogg’s has moved parts of its operation elsewhere, lots of jobs in Battle Creek have gone. Kim grew up in Michigan near Battle Creek, her grandmother taught second grade, and Kim actually remembers going on a field trip with her class to the Kellogg’s Cereal factory. She got to see them putting the toys in the cereal boxes. Kim’s mom worked for the state of Michigan and was a union leader. I was curious about that with Kim being a superintendent now. I imagine there’s an interesting dynamic there between you being a superintendent and-

Kim Carter:
Yes. And so, little known fact is that as a teacher, I was really involved in the union, and then when I moved from being a teacher to a principal in Kalamazoo, I was the president of the Principal’s Union.

Alec Patton:
Okay. How are those relationships now?

Kim Carter:
Amazing. And so, I think that has given me a little bit of more credibility around understanding workers’ issues and being very in tune to what my employees need in order to feel supported and seen.

Alec Patton:
Kim started teaching elementary school in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1998, she became a principal in 2004. Then she left to work for a nonprofit that supported schools in underprivileged or underserved communities, that’s how she started working with schools in Battle Creek. In 2013, Kim got tapped to be assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Battle Creek. In 2014, BC Vision was launched. We’ve mentioned that before, but to understand this story, you need to understand it in more depth. Here’s Kim.

Kim Carter:
BC Vision was established as kind of a catalyst for community-wide change. So, as we previously discussed, there’s a lot of economic depression that’s happening, out-migration of not just students, but also businesses, large local businesses are now declining, housing is in trouble… And there was this collective will to try to revitalize the community. And so, it was launched through a partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, who also brought the Kellogg company on board at the time, and the two leaders of those huge organizations in the community said, hey, let’s think about putting together a strategy for improving community-wide areas of opportunity. So, one of them was around wellness, there was another group meeting around the culture of vitality, there was another group meeting around large business and small business development, just collectively bringing stakeholders across various organizations and community partnerships to talk about how to improve outcomes for families and children.

Alec Patton:
And so, who is leading that work?

Kim Carter:
The CEO of the Kellogg Foundation and the CEO of the Kellogg Company started the work, with a few other philanthropic organizations partnering to lead the work.

Alec Patton:
Was that La June Montgomery…

Kim Carter:
La June Montgomery Tabron, yes, CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Alec Patton:
That seems like a big deal in terms of this whole story, and at that point, you’d been at Battle Creek for about a year it seems like?

Kim Carter:
Yes. So, at the time, the person that was actually first connected to BC Vision was the current sitting superintendent. I came in, in that second year of BC Vision, when I became the interim superintendent, and that’s at the point where my voice became a little bit more centralized on the education committee, because there was an education committee, and at that time is when the BC vision, the study was launched. And so, when I took the seat, we were facing significant financial issues due to declining enrollment, the school district was in a downward financial spiral, there was a lot going on, and I had just become interim.

Alec Patton:
Yeah. Why’d you say yes?

Kim Carter:
Because I believed in the change. I believed in the possibilities, I believed in Battle Creek. And so, I just, for whatever reason, felt like I was up for the challenge. And so, I told the board at that point, if I’m going to do this work, it only took me three months to understand where the real change was needed, and I said, if I’m going to do this work, then we’re going to have to go into a permanent contract, because I literally, in my first year, closed three schools.

Alec Patton:
Phew. So, you said in three months you knew what had to happen, break it down for me.

Kim Carter:
So, in my first three months, I received a letter from the state, saying that Battle Creek Public Schools was in danger of higher state levels of monitoring and even state intervention given its financials.

Alec Patton:
They sent you a letter?

Kim Carter:
Yes. That’s a trigger that happens when your fund balance is headed below 5%.

Alec Patton:
It just seems like they could give you a call.

Kim Carter:
I know, I know. But at the time, I wonder if they even knew of the leadership changes, and all that was happening, right?

Alec Patton:
Right.

Kim Carter:
In that first three months, I’m faced with right-sizing a school district. And so, what that means is our expenses were far exceeding the revenue.

Alec Patton:
Sure. And I assume your revenue is based on pupil attendance?

Kim Carter:
Correct, yep. We get a per pupil foundation allowance, I look back and our expenses exceeded revenue for almost the last 10 years. And so, what had happened is the district had been spending through a at one time robust fund balance and was now almost down to nothing. So, I accepted the challenge and said, we are going to move, we got this.

Alec Patton:
So, what had to change was one thing was, in the short term, some schools had to close, you just had to balance the books, what else? When you said that in three months you had a vision, but you needed to be in it, as a not an interim.

Kim Carter:
The reason for that was really around the huge decisions that had to be made around right-sizing, which is fixing the finances. And those decisions have to come with a little bit of cover, right?

Alec Patton:
Yeah.

Kim Carter:
When you start closing people’s neighborhood schools, that’s a lot. Not only did I close schools, and we did this in a really collaborative, outward-facing, transparent way, very much so, by going to every single school. I had town halls in all of the buildings, I had input sessions, and transparently shared the finances, and the why behind, and asked people to really consider the why this school over that school to come down to those decisions. And it was very, for a lack of a better way of saying it, stressful process because it was emotional, it was an emotional process at that.

Alec Patton:
Okay. How do you do that collaboratively? Because at the end of the day, the numbers are the numbers, I’m guessing, if you go to a school and a bunch of parents say, no, we should keep this school open, you’re probably not going to change your mind. Tell me more about how you did those meetings.

Kim Carter:
Well, before deciding which schools, we did a report that helped people truly understand why an Urbandale Elementary over a Verona Elementary, so that it wasn’t just about, I want to close this school, but let me help you understand the why this school is the most appropriate school to close, and how we’re going to make sure your kids are still taken care of. And so, it started with a district-wide committee that narrowed it down, that understood the facilities challenges that some schools had over others. For example, ADA accessibility, where the cafeteria was positioned in a school built in 1930 versus a school built in 1950. So, really transparently sharing every single detail that went into the decision-making so that people felt like this wasn’t an arbitrary decision, and then going to the school and letting them be emotional with me.
I just had to allow that space for the emotion, and to listen to the why, and to hear the stories of, my grandfather went to this school, I went to this school, you’re taking this school… It’s not always just about a school closure. And I think when we forget about the human aspect of what school represents in a neighborhood, that’s where we go wrong, and I just created the space for people to be heard.

Alec Patton:
Are there any particular meetings that have stayed in your mind?

Kim Carter:
And so, yeah, it’s just the meeting where there were tears, and there were emotions, and I wanted to be able to make a different decision, but knew that I couldn’t.

Alec Patton:
Are you still in touch with any of those parents now? Do you ever hear from them?

Kim Carter:
Yes, because many of them stuck with me, and they believed in the vision that I was able to present, and I made some commitments in those, that I’m taking a step back so that collectively we can move forward. And I just asked them to trust that, that this step back was not a permanent step back, but it was a collective step back so that we could move forward. And I hear from those parents who said, thank you for delivering on that promise, this district is better as a result of those temporary reductions and closures. And by temporary, what I mean is that one of those schools, one or two of those schools, yes, they’re still closed, but another one has reopened, another one has been repurposed. And so, they have just seen that there was a plan, that it wasn’t just a school closure, but it was more of a reorganization of the district in service of better outcomes for kids.

Alec Patton:
You knew what had to happen within three months, one of those things was that some schools had to close. Talk me through the rest of your vision at that point.

Kim Carter:
The way I can explain this is the same vision I had, I had an opportunity to present to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. And what I said to them was, there are three pillars of change that needed to happen in Battle Creek Public Schools, and that was we had to address enrollment, because enrollment would create financial stability, we needed to address teaching and learning, and that was the lack of a guaranteed viable curriculum, and if we put that in place, we’d see better outcomes for kids, and the third leg was recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers. The turnover rate was astronomical, the inability to recruit was not in a place that we needed to be. So, if we could address those three pillars, then we would begin to see upward trajectory of the district on multiple fronts.

Alec Patton:
And then, meanwhile, they’re saying, hey, we’re going to have this big study of Battle Creek Public Schools starting now, that had to feel a little bit unfair.

Kim Carter:
It didn’t, and actually, the study was purposeful in that it highlighted the story I was trying to get other people to understand. The why the need for additional resources was necessary. That study was a catalyst for everybody no longer ignoring what was happening in Battle Creek Public Schools.

Alec Patton:
Got it.

Kim Carter:
And now I can hold you accountable, now I can tell you that you can’t just say to the district, fix it, because this is more than Battle Creek Public Schools, this is about what’s happening in the entire community, and it’s going to take a community collaborative approach to actually create change.

Alec Patton:
That seems like that had to be tough though. The line that really struck me was that like La June Montgomery Tabron specifically described Battle Creek Public Schools as the weakest link, that had to be tough to hear.

Kim Carter:
It is absolutely tough, especially because I’m walking these schools, and I’m talking with children, and I’m seeing their potential, but the stories about them do not magnify the beauty of every individual child that I’ve been coming into contact with. I’m hearing the stories of how even the students in Battle Creek Public Schools began to see themselves as less than, and it angered me. And I thought, oh no, we’re not doing this, so let’s go. We’re going to create change, and I am committed to creating a better opportunity for you, a better school district, a school district that not just you deserve, but a school district that deserves you.

Alec Patton:
Step one was closing some schools, but being as transparent and talking to the community about it and bringing people in, but that step one was really just that immediate cost-cutting. What was step two?

Kim Carter:
Not just closing schools, but step 1B was also reducing staff. And that probably was tougher than closing schools, because these are your community members, some of them are the parents of the students that you serve. And now you are talking about decreasing the district staffing roster. And so, as a part of that change, I outsourced transportation because we had to find a way to cut costs with transportation, we offer busing to every single student in the district, free of charge, as long as you’re one mile out, so that’s a significant cost, and then I also outsourced our custodial group.

Alec Patton:
All this sounds really tough.

Kim Carter:
It was, it was a tough year. It was a tough year.

Alec Patton:
So, that was step 1A and 1B.

Kim Carter:
And then, it was going to the foundation to sell the vision, and to say to them, you are a global conglomerate, one of the largest philanthropic organizations, you invest in areas throughout the country, but we have a problem right here in your hometown. And I think what I love about La June Montgomery Tabron is her fearless leadership that took responsibility, and said, I’m going to lead us out of this as well. I’m not just going to be a sideline, I’m going to really dig in and provide my shoulder to the wheel of the community to help create change. And so, they provided me with the opportunity to come and tell the vision of what was possible if they came alongside me to create transformation in Battle Creek Public Schools. And as a result of that, there was a significant investment, a $51 million grant was made to the district for me to really invest, get more staff, improve compensation, and a whole other host of strategies that have been employed over the last seven years.

Alec Patton:
And so, obviously, W.K. Kellogg is a big part of this story, but I know that you also, it wasn’t just them, a big part of your leadership has been bringing people in.

Kim Carter:
I think the story that we will tell, the legacy I hope to leave is that partnerships matter. And that in all of the transformation and change that has occurred in Battle Creek Public Schools has been as a result of the relationships that have been built, and the call to action that individuals have accepted, and then come alongside me and not let it be a Battle Creek Public Schools’ issue, but a community-wide issue and need for change.

Alec Patton:
That probably feels now normal in Battle Creek, but that had to start somewhere. How did you go from a bunch of people going, boy, someone should fix those schools, to oh, this is something that I’m a part of?

Kim Carter:
Sharing information and being transparent. So, I will tell you that one of the things that I heard when I first started having conversations with community partners is no one ever told us all of this. I did not sugar coat the data, and so as a leader, I could have been like, well, we’re doing okay. I was very honest and transparent. 16% of our kids are proficient, only 13% of our third-graders can read at grade level. And they told me that no one had ever put it in a place where they just were honest about here’s how the district is doing, and not making excuses for it. But then I said to them, and this is not all on Battle Creek Public Schools, so let me tell you what our students are facing, and you’ve got to take some responsibility for that as well. So, I was just really honest with them that schools cannot outperform the condition of the city that they’re situated in. So, what are we going to do together to change this?

Alec Patton:
And so, when you say them, presumably you had those initial meetings about closing the schools, the people who were coming to those meetings are already somewhat activated and concerned about this by definition, and then you talk to the Kellogg Foundation, which is a philanthropic organization based in the Battle Creek area, that kind of makes sense. Who are the other people you were contacting and how are you doing that?

Kim Carter:
Looking at who is coming to the BC vision meetings, right? So let me look and see who’s around the table. And I made it a point to not just be on the education committee, I wanted to see who was sitting at the small business table, who’s sitting at the large business table, I even went to the culture of vitality meeting. People asked me, why are you in all these spaces that are not just about the schools? And it’s because we’re inextricably linked. So, I want to know what’s going on with housing, so I put myself in places where conversations were being held, and understanding who is in these conversations, and then following up with them to invite them to a larger conversation.

Alec Patton:
Where were your early wins?

Kim Carter:
My early win was finding the individual and organization who had the most connections, and that was actually the Battle Creek Community Foundation. So, you would think it was a W.K. Kellogg Foundation, but there’s another foundation, which is the Battle Creek Community Foundation, and the CEO of that foundation knew everybody. And so, I sat and had a conversation with her, to say, I have an idea about how could we bring together social organization, social service organization, mental health partners, even law enforcement, all of the individuals that touch families and children, I want to have a conversation with them. What do you think about that? And she said, that sounds like a great idea. I want to come up with a partnership model where all of us are not working in silos, but instead working as a team to eliminate barriers for students and families. Would you help me organize a meeting around that? And she did.

Alec Patton:
Okay. Kim, this sounds so time-consuming.

Kim Carter:
It is, and it’s necessary.

Alec Patton:
You probably can’t answer this question, but I’m just trying to understand how you’re organizing and reaching out and setting up one-on-one meetings all over the district with community leaders while you’re also superintendent of a school district, that even if it weren’t in crisis, you’d have a million things happening every day.

Kim Carter:
I think you find time and you make time for the things that you know are most important. And so, in those early years, and probably still to this day, I will meet with you for coffee at 6:30, 7:00 AM, and I’m having dinner with somebody else at 7:00 or 8:00 at night. If that’s what it takes to make sure that I’m at the table, in the room, having the conversations, then that’s what I’m going to do to develop those relationships, and those relationships are what have allowed me to get work done in Battle Creek Public Schools. This is definitely the story of partnerships.

Alec Patton:
So, you brought, you said, all kinds of public services and law enforcement and health together, did you just have one meeting where you just went, okay, let’s just get everybody together?

Kim Carter:
Yes, we did. The beginning of this was not individuals who worked for the directors, we actually said, it must be the CEO or top organization leader. We don’t want a worker, we needed the decision-makers to be at that meeting.

Alec Patton:
You can say that, but why did they do it?

Kim Carter:
I know. That, I can’t answer, I think the compelling story of relationships, the relationship that the Battle Creek Community Foundation had, the relationship that I had been building with folks, creating the belief and the vision for change, they all came, they showed up. I’m telling you, from the judge, our local judge… It was astonishing that the youth judge said, I’m going to come and sit. The county prosecutor said, I’m going to be there to sit, because I want to talk to you about students who are on probation. The head of the Department of Health and Human Services in this area said, I’m going to be there.
The CEO of Grace Health said, I will sit at the table with you to have the conversation. The CEO of Family and Children Services said that they would sit and be there with us. And so, all of those individuals we decided would be the steering committee, that would be the initial link for what we now call Bearcat Health, and it was all in terms of cross-systems collaboration, and they were invested. And the chief of police on the committee as well, he said, I’m coming. I’ll be there.

Alec Patton:
What was the agenda for that meeting?

Kim Carter:
So, it was really about agreeing to engage and develop new systems to really address both behavioral health and academic achievement of students. So, the agenda was around looking at everybody is trying to meet a goal, but we seem to be getting in each other’s way. So, the sole purpose of this, the group, in the beginning was to define where we could stop duplicating and agree on a seamless connection between the individual systems that were happening and creating a cross-systems protocol that would eliminate those barriers and challenges of getting access to services for students. So, that was the first and foremost call to action.
What ended up happening as a result of that is a common application, a common referral form, we leveraged the opportunity to say, a parent didn’t have to fill out various forms for release of information, we came up with a common one so that we could access services faster, you didn’t have to have separate ones for separate organizations, those kinds of things. And then, just through organic conversations and problem solving, we understood that subcommittees were needed, and we broke into subcommittees that specifically were looking at behavioral health, attendance, and literacy.

Alec Patton:
But these subcommittees weren’t just school districts, these were from people from this big group?

Kim Carter:
Absolutely. The head of the literacy subcommittee is the CEO of Grace Health.

Alec Patton:
Wow. Far out.

Kim Carter:
The head of the behavioral health subcommittee is one of our mental health service providers.

Alec Patton:
You make it sound really easy, but it is so easy for me to imagine a situation in which you do all the legwork, and you get all the leaders and CEOs into a room together, and it’s a total waste of two hours, and everybody leaves and says, we’re never doing that again. For somebody else who’s like, that sounds great, but I’m really scared of what happens if we have that meeting and it flops, how did you make sure that meeting didn’t flop?

Kim Carter:
Let me tell you that some of the meetings did flop. So, I think that should be pointed out. This was not perfection, this was grow through what you go through. And so, if the meeting flopped, we’re having a post-meeting reflection around did we do what we said we were going to do? Was this purposeful? Nope. So, let’s reach out and talk to a couple of people. Why weren’t you engaged? I can’t simplify it enough by saying it is about relationship and personal connections and conversations and connecting people to their why. Grace Health, you’re not successful if families can’t access your services. And let me tell you the why, if children aren’t successful in the school district, how that impacts each of the organizations that you’re working with. Let me tell you about why DHS is having such a huge problem with CPS referrals because we’re not communicating well and serving each other.

Alec Patton:
Yeah.

Kim Carter:
Let me tell you how being involved in this is going to make your work and your organization easier. We just didn’t give up. And what happened as a result of those conversations over time is organizations realized how much their work was connected to one another. So, a student who may have had some issues and now on probation, probably also has a family that is connected with Department of Health and Human Services for one reason or another, which is probably also receiving health services from one of the healthcare providers. So, why are we all working in silos when collectively we can create a system of support for that family that integrates all of these services and makes each organization work a little bit easier and not harder?

Alec Patton:
I want to talk about the wins now.

Kim Carter:
Yes.

Alec Patton:
Tell me about some of the things that started happening once you created this.

Kim Carter:
We have been able to improve our attendance, we’ve been able to really create more wraparound services and supports for families so that they can better engage in our schools. As a part of this partnership, not just this partnership, but the overall transformation, we’ve been able to open up a new school, an international baccalaureate academy, we’ve opened up a STEM, so we have now a middle school STEM program. This fall, we launched our first kindergarten through eighth grade Academy of Visual and Performing Arts.

Alec Patton:
Cool.

Kim Carter:
And even more exciting is, as a part of this collaboration, we thought about neighborhood revitalization as well, and so within a one-mile radius, we now will be offering education for six weeks old through eighth grade, with the high school only about two blocks away. So, within a neighborhood from birth to high school graduation we will be able to support families.

Alec Patton:
And that arts academy, that was paid for by a bond proposal, right?

Kim Carter:
That was paid for by a bond, and the bond is possible because of the community will and the relationship and the trust that’s been built over time. So, that where 60% of bonds in Michigan failed, we’ve been able to pass two in the last 10 years.

Alec Patton:
That’s that relationship thing again.

Kim Carter:
And that’s the relationship. So, as a result of all this transparent communication, relationships, conversations, and communication, we’ve been able to reestablish trust with the community that was in a downward spiral, and get people to do what our campaign slogan in the beginning was believe in the change.

Alec Patton:
Okay. So, Bearcat Health, you mentioned, what is that?

Kim Carter:
Bearcat Health is a partnership model that brings together a coalition of healthcare providers, mental health organizations, youth development programs, and community-based partners to provide wraparound support for students and families.

Alec Patton:
Guessing that’s like a high school mascot?

Kim Carter:
Yes.

Alec Patton:
And then, the Bearcat Advantage?

Kim Carter:
Yes. So, after really working on the teaching and learning aspects of the district, the next phase of transformation was to mitigate out-migration. And part of that strategy was partnering with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to offer what is now a generational scholarship. They have committed to providing an entire generation of Bearcats, Battle Creek Public School students, with up to 100% tuition to college, to a four-year college and/or HBCU.

Alec Patton:
Wow. Now, when you say up to, that sounds like there’s a little bit of fine print there. How does that work?

Kim Carter:
It depends on at what point you were enrolled in the district. And so, because it’s an enrollment partnered with an economic strategy, for each year of your enrollment passed I think fourth grade, you begin to get a percentage of tuition covered. As long as you are enrolled in the district by ninth grade, you get 65% at ninth grade, kindergarten, 100%.

Alec Patton:
Got it. It’s like social security for college.

Kim Carter:
Yes. Yes. And as a result of that, we definitely have a partnership with the Upjohn Institute to study the impact of that scholarship. We have doubled our college going culture, so we have more students enrolled in college, and we are having more students complete four-year degrees.

Alec Patton:
So, what are you seeing in terms of, what’s the term, was it outflow what was the term you used about students…

Kim Carter:
Out-migration.

Alec Patton:
Out-migration. Yeah, what are you seeing on that?

Kim Carter:
And so, we’ve been able to stabilize out-migration, and so we were losing in the beginning of the transformation, 300 students a year, two years ago was our first year actually increasing enrollment, but last year we lost about 70 kids. So, to the point, we’ve kind of mitigated and interrupted the out-migration, and now I’m really focused on bringing back some students, because within our enrollment area, we have 3000 students that choice out, but still live in our district, and I’m going after them.

Alec Patton:
How are you doing that?

Kim Carter:
Well, that’s through an intentional campaign to create in-district choice. So, rather than choosing schools outside of our district, I’ve created a new portfolio of schools so that you will choose, and you have choice in Battle Creek, like performing arts, STEM, international baccalaureate, career academies, all of those are new programs that have been added, we now have our own early childhood education center, so by creating a new portfolio, I hope to attract families back to Battle Creek Public Schools.

Alec Patton:
That’s 3000 families, you could get coffee with each one of them.

Kim Carter:
There you go. Don’t challenge me because I will try. Look, let me get on their schedule, and I will try.

Alec Patton:
I also read that the other part of Bearcat Advantage was salary boost for teachers.

Kim Carter:
That wasn’t the Bearcat Advantage, but part of the transformation, yes. So, the Bearcat Advantage, that is the specific title of our scholarship, but as part of the transformation, because we have right-sized the district, we’ve improved our finances. So, we went from a 5% fund balance to a 30% fund balance. We have been able to reinvest in our teachers and compensation, and so as a result of that, they have become the highest paid starting salary in Southwest Michigan.

Alec Patton:
Wow.

Kim Carter:
I also want to celebrate the fact that our retention rate is through the roof. I apologize, I don’t have the exact number. So, we have improved our retention rate, that has also happened, and through these conversations, we’ve been able to partner with the city to offer a $20,000 down payment housing assistance program.

Alec Patton:
For teachers?

Kim Carter:
For teachers.

Alec Patton:
Wow.

Kim Carter:
For teachers and administrators. Yes.

Alec Patton:
That’s awesome. Go back to when you suddenly became superintendent. If you could go back to that Kim, what would you tell her?

Kim Carter:
I would just tell her to always center kids and you will make the best decision. As long as you stay focused and centered on students, it will all work out. And that has been my work.

Alec Patton:
And is there something that you look back and you’re like, man, that was a scary decision but it was the right call?

Kim Carter:
If you go back to the beginning of the conversation, I am born and raised by union-focused individuals, right? And so the hardest decision was eliminating union jobs. That was hard for me. And to see the family of a job that I just had to eliminate in the grocery store, it was rough.

Alec Patton:
How did you talk to your mom about that?

Kim Carter:
Anchored it in the why in that I had a vision of bringing those jobs back at some point. That was my hope. That this is a, what I have to do, but I’m going to always make sure to the best of my ability I’m doing right by those employees. And so, what did it look like to create the softest landing I had access to?

Alec Patton:
And are those jobs back yet?

Kim Carter:
For our transportation, no, and for cleaning, no, but we have brought back a significant portion of the maintenance. Now that I know better, once you outsource something, I know now that it’s almost impossible to bring it back internally.

Alec Patton:
Got it. Got it.

Kim Carter:
I did not know that at that point, I had high hopes, right? This was a temporary solution, but I have realized that once you go down that road, it’s really hard to reverse that decision.

Alec Patton:
How do you feel about that decision now?

Kim Carter:
I still totally 100% believe it was the right decision, it created the conditions for the success that we’re achieving right now.

Alec Patton:
Just because it was cheaper to deliver the same?

Kim Carter:
It was necessary. It was necessary in order to make sure that I could put the resources in the place that was going to be a catalyst for change.

Alec Patton:
Got it.

Kim Carter:
Going back to, we didn’t have curriculum, we didn’t have reading books, how are you running a school district without those teaching resources? And so, you have to make the hard decision to put the money in the right place.

Alec Patton:
Yeah. And flip that question about when you suddenly became superintendent in 2015, if that Kim could see Battle Creek now, what would she be most surprised about?

Kim Carter:
How far we’ve come. I never would’ve thought that when I closed Fremont, I would actually open it back up. I had no idea that that was even a possibility. I had no idea that 10 years later I would be able to offer the community a space for their children as early as six weeks old. No idea that at the high school, through partnerships, we could design, build, and implement an on-campus healthcare simulation lab that is better than the local colleges. No idea.

Alec Patton:
That’s awesome. Since you’ve had experience with declining attendance and addressing that, and that’s something that lots of districts are facing now, what’s the first step? If a leader’s listening to this and they’re thinking, boy, I really need to tackle this, what would you recommend? Where should they start?

Kim Carter:
Understanding why kids aren’t coming to school, that’s the first step. Because you can put in place a lot of… Our early mistake was just throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall and trying to figure out what sticks, instead of really understanding what the barriers were. So, an example is you can’t incentivize a second-grader and think that’s going to interrupt their attendance problem. Second grade attendance is actually a family issue because second-graders can’t drive themselves to school. So, really trying to understand what the real root cause is, is the first step in combating chronic absenteeism.

Alec Patton:
And how do you do that?

Kim Carter:
Asking families. And so, we had to put people in place that were going to actually make phone calls, do home visits, connect personally and individually with families that were not coming to school. And I say families, not kids, you had to connect with families. Kindergarteners don’t make the decision themselves to not come to school. And so, we had this habit, and I think a lot of schools do, of doing attendance parties, and bike giveaways, and tickets, when the root cause is finding out from a father that he works third shift, and he is a single dad, and was falling asleep, not being able to get up in time to get his kid to school, and then just deciding, well, it’s too late, I’m not going. But having the conversation with him is, let me tell you the impact of even a couple hours getting your child to school has, and how can I help you with that?

Alec Patton:
How do you help?

Kim Carter:
First it is, let me help you understand what not coming to school is doing to your child, and if that doesn’t change it, then let me connect you to someone who lives right around the corner, if they knock on your door and pick up your child, is that okay? Yep. Let’s make some connections for you.

Alec Patton:
Wow. Kim, thank you so much, this has been an awesome conversation, really, it’s really inspiring stuff, I love what you’re doing. Thanks so much for taking the time.

Kim Carter:
Thank you for having me, I truly enjoyed the conversation.

Alec Patton:
High Tech High Unboxed is hosted by me, Alec Patton, with editing by Yesenia Moreno. Huge thanks to Dr. Kim Carter for this conversation. You can learn more about Battle Creek Public Schools in the show notes. Thanks for listening.