Goodrich-One word has school officials across the state holding their breath: proration.
‘Proration is when the state does not have the funds to give us the money that was originally budgeted,? explained Linda DeCamp, business manager for the school district.
DeCamp said originally in the school aid budget, funding per pupil was going up $210, money schools state-wide calculated into their budgets.
‘Now what has happened is the state does not have the money to pay that…’said DeCamp. ‘Basically they…deteremined that the funds are not there.?
DeCamp said it is estimated the state would introduce proration at a cost of $224 per student, $14 more per student than schools were originally set to receive, at a total cost of $489,000 to the Goodrich schools.
‘Not only would they take everything they would have given us for this year, but they’ll have to go back to last year as well, and as you can imagine, that money is already gone and spent,? said Superintendent Kimberly Hart during at presentation on the subject at the Jan.21 school board meeting.
DeCamp said Goodrich has seen this storm brewing, and is financially prepared to weather it? temporarily.
‘The impact for us is not devastating and the reason for this is because for two years we’ve looked at this budget crisis coming…and stood very strict on our budget,? said DeCamp. ‘The key is it’s not going to be just this year, it’s going to be next year, too.?
Board of education trustee Michael Thorp said though proration will hurt all schools, some will be left devastated.
‘There are districts that are going to drop around the state if this comes through like this,? said Thorp. ‘We said a year ago that things were going to be worse and I wish that I were wrong…?
However, DeCamp said proration is not definite.
‘What they have not confirmed is they have not actually said we will receive a proration, and they have also not given us a dollar amount,? said DeCamp. ‘At this point (lawmakers) are still looking at ways to fully fund what they promised by taking money from other sources.?
DeCamp added residents still have time to speak their mind on the issue.
‘You can contact your representative, contact your senator? they can try,? said DeCamp. ‘The schools really cannot afford to lose the money, but everyone across the state is having to give up something.?