Colon school board approves STARBASE resolution

Members of the Colon Community Schools Board of Education hope federal officials will continue funding a science-based program that one school official said is the highlight of fifth grade for many of its students.
During Monday’s monthly meeting, the board approved a resolution in support of continued funding for the hands-on program STARBASE. Its fate is in jeopardy as a potential casualty in a Department of Defense spending bill, according to Adam Bowen, Colon’s fifth- and sixth-grade social studies teacher.
The district for most of the past nine years has sent its fifth-grade students to the STARBASE program in Battle Creek, one of two STARBASE locations in the state. Participants attend STARBASE one day a week for five weeks; Colon’s group completed the session earlier in the school year.
Board member Deb Bordner said the STARBASE Battle Creek director indicated school board resolutions in support of STARBASE could influence federal officials.
Battle Creek’s STARBASE operates on a budget of about $350,000 annually. It has a staff of one part-time and four full-time employees. It taught nearly 1,500 schoolkids in 2014.