Budget cuts force school districts into funding crisis mode

With significant cuts pushed through the GOP-controlled legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, many school boards are struggling to pass austere budgets to reflect the large gaps in state funding.

Under the new state budget approved last month, schools face cuts of $470 per pupil as well as cuts to categoricals. Districts that adopt Snyder’s “best practices” are eligible for an additional $100 in per pupil funding. Democrats, who are in the minority in both chambers of the legislature, have been pushing Republicans to restore cuts made to education, noting that the school aide fund did have a $900 million surplus before lawmakers shifted that money to fund other budgetary arenas, including community colleges and state universities.

In Northville, the school board is considering engaging the state’s new Emergency Financial law in order to achieve cuts in the budget, reports the Observer and Eccentric. Under the new law, passed earlier this year, public bodies can enter into a consent agreement to allow the state to send in auditors to review the books. It could lead to a take over of the district by an Emergency Financial Manager. It could also give the district board the power to unilaterally suspend collectively bargained agreements with unions.

In Jackson, the teachers union will vote on a tentative agreement which will see sharp increases in contributions for heath insurance. Right now, teaches play 3.6 percent toward their insurance. The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports that teachers could end up paying anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of their health insurance premiums.

And finally, in Lansing, the school board approved a $173 million budget Wednesday night. That budget included $8 million in concession cuts from the unions, and uses $10.7 million dollar from the district’s fund balance. The Lansing State Journal reports that had employees not come through with the concessions, the district would likely have begun operating in a deficit. That could have triggered the Emergency Financial Manager situation.