Last week, Oakland Intermediate School District voted to return $20 million in special education funds to 28 school districts and two charter schools in the county.
Lake Orion School District Superintendent Dr. Craig Younkman told school board members on Sept. 10, that the district will be receiving about a half a million dollars by the end of the year.
“In essence this is a reimbursement. For years we were underwriting special education,” Younkman said. ‘Because of that the money can go into our general fund. This is one time only; it’s non-sustainable.”
Getting the extra money was good news for school board members who had to cut over $3 million from this year’s budget due to no increase in the state’s student funding.
Oakland Schools was criticized for spending $18 million in special education and vocational education money for a $30 million administration building and $9 million for a fiber optic network.