Local school officials were bracing for a state aid freeze in the 2003-2004 fiscal year.
They were surprised, however, when Governor Jennifer Granholm announced a reduction in the promised state funding for the current year.
The Michigan Legislature had until Friday, Feb. 14 (after The Citizen’s press deadline) to pass an alternative package, but figures from the governor’s executive order had administrators looking at ways to cut already-planned spending.
“That was pretty hard for us,” said Goodrich Area Schools Superintendent Ray Green, who estimated that the district will lose about $150,000 in expected state aid this year. “We were pretty close to thinking we would have a balanced budget this year.
“Overall, the financial condition of Goodrich schools is still good,” said Green, so no specific decisions will be made until the final numbers are known. In the meantime, “We’re doing a much more thorough check on everything [financial].”
In the Brandon School District, officials are bracing for a potential loss of $228,990, or $58.26 in the per-student foundation grant.
Jenniches told his school board Monday, Feb. 10 that the legislative alternatives to make the cuts more fair to all districts could actually cost Brandon more.
Brandon has a relatively easy way to cope with the immediate shortfall – Jenniches will recommend the cancellation of a $200,000 order for new carpet for the district central office and new computers for the district.
Those are still needed items, Jenniches said, and delaying such purchases will combine with future budget challenges.
“My concern is going to be next year,” he said. “I don’t think we can expect great things for educational funding.”
Administrators say it’s not simply an issue of cutting fat from the budget.
Jenniches said contractual obligations and normal cost increases mean Brandon needs an additional $1.2 million next year to keep current programs intact.
Goodrich is a smaller district, but Green estimated that a simple state aid freeze would leave his budget with a $500,000 shortfall. He said about 80 percent of the Goodrich budget is for personnel, and much of the remaining 20 percent is for costs over which the district has no control (including utilities, for example).
“The amount of truly discretionary spending is rather small,” Green said.
Even before last week’s school board meeting, Jenniches said there are ways to cut the budget, but his concern is how it would affect quality of education.
“Are there other things we can look into without affecting programming for kids?”
For example, in recent years the district has worked hard to improve the quality of athletic fields and now employs a professional firm to maintain them. That contract could be cancelled, but that could have long-term consequences.
“We built those fields with a lot of taxpayer money, and we want to maintain them,” he said.
“I don’t want, if I can help it, to lay off staff,” Jenniches said. “I still believe people need their negotiated raises.”
The Brandon School District has a fairly healthy fund balance at present, but if state aid does not level out over the next couple years, Jenniches said that cushion will disappear.
At the Feb. 10 school board meeting, Trustee Nancy Strohschein criticized the governor’s formula and asked a question that the board has avoided for several years.
“We have the largest cut and the smallest foundation after the cut [based on figures provided to the board],” said Strohschein. “Is it time to do the Headlee override?”
Jenniches said there will be additional discussion about future budget options in the board’s finance committee.