BUILDING FOR SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY - Kennedy Bibliothek

and interest, etc., the school becomes a community center in a true
sense, and is also enormously enrichening the education it offers to
children."(1}
163. This all-inclusive view of the school as a community center has been
somewhat reduced by the new administration. Altogether, allocations to
the community education program for 1976 were less than 1% of the total
budget. Reflective of this community de-emphasis, the Community Education
Department's name has been changed to Continuing and Community Education
Department. Mainly centered around recreational and adult education, it
does, however, include a representative cross section of the Ann Arbor
schools: 25 elementary, 5 intermediate, 2 high schools and 2 alternative
educational programs - altogether 35 schools.
16.4. Another essential part of the decentralised and totally individualised
instruction program introduced in the McPherson era was a fully automated
computer system to support the administrative structures in linking pupils'
choices and educational resources in terms of scheduling and management.
This rather expensive device which cost approximately $400,000 in terms
of programming and consulting time and which never was fully operationalised
was abandoned as soon as the new administration moved in.
165. One advantage in Ann Arbor proved to be that the Recreation Department
as well as the Public Libraries service are part of the Board of Education.
Recreation programs are jointly financed (fifty-fifty) by the Board and
the City of Ann Arbor.and the operational tax support for recreation in
1975-76 totals $237 735 of which $123 585 came from the Public Schools
and $11,4 150 from the City. During 1974-75, approximately 248 000 adults
and children participated in active and passive recreation programs. Some
of the most successful programs which attracted participants are: the
Junior Theater Program (an outgrowth of the Cultural Arts Program, which
provides high quality children's theater), the Senior Citizen Program, a
program for the handicapped, sports and art fairs. The Recreation Department
utilises most of the thirty-six public schools and assists the Continuing
Education and Community School Department in organising Community
School programs. Through co-operation with the City Parks and Recreation,
the three artificial ice rinks and outdoor swimming pools, baseball and
Softball diamonds and the six natural ice rinks, provide the Recreation.
Department with additional facilities to service the citizens with
community recreation needs.
1) UDA, op.cit., page 78.
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