Keystone Academy charter school student absentee rate drops to 8%

Keystone Academy principal Jorvonna Drain reported as of the school’s board of directors’ meeting on Nov. 13, the student absentee rate had just dropped to 8%.
That was down from the previous month, she said.
The staff had been making an effort to reduce the absentee rate so the students will be in class to learn and it is working well, Drain said.
Absentee rates in surrounding school districts are much higher, the board noted.
Board president Chris Mihaly said the comparison of students enrolled from three years ago is higher and she complimented Drain and her teachers. She called the growth “impressive.” The enrollment was 696 in 2023-24, to 718 in 2024-25, and 731 in 2025-26.
When asked about grade 4 and its smaller number of students than other grades, Drain said that was the COVID group of students and some of them in that group never even started school.
Board vice president Steve Harsant said the public should hear about the high grades at Keystone and Keystone should advertise on television like another charter school is doing.
National Heritage Academy representative Andrew Roth said NHA decides which schools to advertise. Drain said she could mention to them that Keystone would like to be considered.
It was noted 57% of Keystone students reside in the Van Buren Public Schools district, 23% live in the Lincoln Consolidated School District, 5% in Romulus Community Schools District, 4% in Wayne-Westland Community Schools District, and 3% in the Huron School District.
In other business at the Nov. 13 meeting, the board;
• Heard Rahki Kapoor from Alan C. Young and Associates give the audit report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, noting Keystone received an unmodified opinion, the highest. She said the fund balance was $69,899 and enrollment was up for the past two years bringing in more state money. The revenue grew from $8.2 million to $8.8 million. The clerical error of $71,668 reported did not affect the audit report and was corrected, she said. Her report was done by zoom, with her face projected on the wall;
• Approved the 2025-26 amended budget;
• Approved a request to purchase additional electric tuners for the concert band at a cost of $315. Band director
Joshua Bialochowski said this investment will directly benefit the students and enhance the quality of the band program;
• Approved giving Amazon gift cards to the staff for this year’s holiday present from the board;
• Heard Drain report that the school acknowledged more than 40 veterans from the Keystone community at it annual Veterans Day assembly. A Veterans Wall was put together providing a display of all the veterans from the Keystone community, even those who couldn’t make it to the assembly. The PTO organized the reception, families donated items for the reception, and students spent time as volunteers, giving up their time at lunch/recess to help;
• Learned Keystone has hired an occupational therapist and extended an offer for a speech therapist, with the resource room teacher’s medical leave to end at the end of the year. The social worker position is still open; and
• Was advised the book fair is Nov. 24-25, classes will be dismissed at 11:20 a.m. on Nov. 25 and will be closed for Thanksgiving until Monday, Dec. 1. A holiday food drive is Dec. 1-5, a band concert at 6 p.m. Dec. 6, and the Harper Mathis Toy Drive on Dec. 15. Winter break is Dec. 22-Jan. 2.