The new year brings its share of challenges for Clarkston Community Schools.
First and foremost: keeping classroom standards high while tightening up the budget.
“Funding is the hottest issue right now,” said Dr. Al Roberts, superintendent.
The school district uses a combination of budget cuts and revenue enhancement, Roberts said.
About 90 percent of the district budget comes from the state, which distributes money based on number of students.
State funding has not kept pace with cost increases from inflation and energy, he said.
Roberts’ lobbying efforts include meetings with state officials at least every other month with the Oakland County Superintendents Association, in Lansing as well as Oakland County, and 2-3 times a year with the Tri County Alliance for Public Education.
One effort by the Tri-County Alliance, representing 86 school districts in Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb counties, is a comprehensive study of school finance.
“The study would provide legislators and school officials with the same standard ? what does it cost to provide a quality education in Michigan,” Roberts said.
“There’s lots of uncertainty,” said Dr. Jean Sergent, executive director for Tri County Alliance. “The situation is that school districts are receiving funding based on what’s left (in the state budget).”
A definitive answer would simplify district budgeting by removing uncertainty and unpredictability in state funding, Roberts said.
The alliance includes more than 70,000 students, and almost half of the K-12 school funding budget, about $7 billion.
They hope to use the combined influence, along with cooperation with Michigan Association of School Boards, Michigan Association of School Administrators, and other groups, to push through the proposal, Sergent said.
“Time is running out ? we need to stop talking and take action,” she said. “Proposal A was approved in 1994. This is 2008. Things have changed dramatically. We need to step back and evaluate the funding mechanism and make sure it is stable, adequate, and equitable.”
The study would cost about $750,000 from the state and last 6-9 months. It would fund a Commission on Education Finance, Excellence, and Equity, to determine the base operating cost for each district.
Until those efforts bring results, Clarkston’s administration and school board officials are working to cut costs and increase revenues from other sources, Roberts said.
The school board cut funding to central administration, bus transportation, custodian services, and other support departments as much as possible, he said.
“There’s not much left to cut without impacting kids,” he said. “If funding doesn’t increase, that means staffing cuts.”
Still, Roberts is optimistic.
“I’m excited about our Young 5s, International Baccalaureate, and OSMTech programs,” he said.
The specialized programs serve students’ needs, and, with their limited open enrollment to students from other districts, also serve as sources of additional revenue.
Community support continues to be strong, he said.
“The community is exceedingly supportive,” he said. “Citizens seem to have a great amount of faith in us ? we have to continue to earn their trust.”
High attendance of homecoming and concert events in Clarkston shows a strong attachment of alumni to their alma mater, he said.
“Kids here make a real connection to the Clarkston Wolves,” he said.
Long-term plans include cultivating those alumni relations, and considering bond and millage proposals.
Most of the $83.7 million collected in the 1983 capital-improvement bond has been spent. Another bond issue, which probably won’t come up for another 10 years, would require lots of input from parents and the community, he said.
Other tax options include millages for recreation and sinking fund. A recreation millage would fund pool operations, auditoriums, community education, and athletic fields, providing relief to the general fund. A sinking fund could be used to help pay the district’s debt.
Before moving forward with any of those, the district needs to reevaluate its master plan and work on its budget. These will be topics of upcoming Board of Education workshop meetings, Roberts said.