Facing $1.3 million in state cuts, administration and school board met Tuesday morning to figure out what to do.
They’ll start by looking at the budget and expenditures line by line, said Superintendent Dr. Al Roberts.
‘We are going to continue to thrive during the difficult economy,? Roberts said. ‘We have to see if we can squeeze anymore without hurting the system.?
School districts across the state received the disappointing news last Thursday. State legislators approved the school budget and plan cut $165 per student.
Roberts called legislators and wrote them some of his thoughts.
‘I know our legislatures are in a tough position with this deficit, but to cut us a couple months into the year really is a unconsciousable in my viewpoint,? he wrote. ‘It puts schools into the position of looking reactive instead of proactive.?
Initially the state wanted to cut $218 per student but reconsidered. But it still leaves Clarkston $1.3 million cut from their general fund, $82.4 million.
Clarkston schools will work around it the best they can, Roberts said.
‘It’s going to take a phenomenal teaching core to get us to the next level,? he said.
‘Many of the jobs our kids will have have not been invented yet. You have a populous that has gone to school and learned in a certain way and we could continue to teach that way in education for less cost but the kids would not be prepared from a world that is going to be very different than the world we grew up in. The concept of teaching kids jobs and technology that hasn’t been invented yet takes a different type of education.?
Roberts said it will take more than tweaking and the district will have to figure out a plan for upcoming years and beyond.
‘We need some overhaul in how we conduct business,? he said, pointing out it would have to come from the state because there are too many factors at the local level.
Going into Tuesday’s meeting, Roberts said they will discuss a combination of making adjustments where they can and using savings.
‘Our board has been prudent,” he said. “We have a fund equity that could help us get through this year ($6.3 million) but next year across the state all bets are off unless we find a way to deal with the structure flaws in the budget.?
Though many districts have consolidated and Roberts is not considering it as an option.
‘It is very popular to talk about consolidation,? he said. ‘In some cases the ways the laws are written now consolidation would cost money, not save money.?
Another way to look at the budget is to look at the revenue, but the growth in the school district over the last ten years has been small and not enough for a difference.
In the past, Clarkston used creativity to continue providing the same kind of service the community has come to know by doing it in different ways, he said.
‘Our district has always been conservative and the fourth lowest funded throughout the county, so we have always had to do more with less to compete,? said Communications Director Anita Banach.
Some ways to bring revenue into the district, Banach mentioned, is to reintroduce people in the community to public schools, showing them what Clarkston has to offer.
More ways include applying for grants and working with local colleges and universities and creating a partnership in which Clarkston will rent space out to the institutions.
‘We have spent a lot of time looking at it from the other side,? she said.
Roberts, whose contract renewal this year includes almost 4 percent raises for this and the next two years, said it will take more than a few weeks to find where they can make adjustments.
‘We won’t achieve what we need to achieve by just looking at 15 percent of the budget. It will be achieved by looking at the major portion of the budget and that’s people,? he said.
‘We are a labor intense organization ? that’s what we do. About 80 percent of our budget is made up in people and we are dealing with people’s lives.?
Michigan approved the budget 66-42 in the House, 20-13 in the Senate. Lawmakers still have to find $100 million to make up for the original $218 per-student cut.