By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
While on paper the Lake Orion School District will see a $106 increase to their per pupil funding for the 2015-16 year, a few calculations will show operating costs increasing by only $8.
‘It’s better than a negative. That’s where we are at these days,? Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance John Fitzgerald said.
With the $106 foundation increase comes the elimination of $50 per student in Best Practice money and a decrease of $70 per student in Performance Funding money, for a net loss of $14..
Then the state throws in $22 of Hold Harmless money, and another $17 in At Risk funding, bringing the total estimated net change up to $25.
The $17 in At Risk funding has a specific spending schedule, Fitzgerald said, and must be spent on a certain category of students.
This leaves the district with a per pupil estimated net change of $8, or about $60,000 for the district.
This would be enough to bring one teacher back, however, funds are spread around so Fitzgerald cannot confirm any hire backs at this point.
The district let 14 teachers go in May to help close a near $1.3 million shortfall before submitting the final budget to the school board June 24.
Fitzgerald said the $8 was close to what the district was expecting.
‘It’s a slight improvement over what our planning model was, but we weren’t expecting much. From a cost of living point of view, it is one-tenth of a one percent increase. We haven’t had rampant inflation, but it’s still 1.5 to two percent, so economically speaking we are losing ground.?
The new foundation allowance will be baked into the final draft of the 2015-2016 budget, which is expected to bring a slight surplus, Fitzgerald said.
The Oxford School District also saw an initial foundation increase of $140, but after plugging in the rate schedule, as with Lake Orion, shows an estimated net change of $25.
Clarkston Community Schools fared a little better, with an initial foundation increase of $140, and a total estimated net change of $109.
The Brandon School District took home the most in the immediate area, with an overall estimated net change of $144.
In Oakland County, the Pontiac School District received the most estimate net funding with a total of $189 per student, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency.
Governer Rick Synder is expected to sign the $54.5 billion executive budget later this month after lawmakers passed the budget June 3.
The School Aid portion of the budget predicted a $70 to $140 increase in per pupil funding for K-12 schools, and every district is guaranteed at least a $25 increase after losing performance based premiums and other funding.