First, I presented a restructuring proposal to the Grand Ledge Board of Education. (More information can be found at the district website under the Our District tab.) This proposal asks the board to approve changes that would result in a savings to our district of 4.1 million dollars. The plan requires us to change the way we look here in our district.
This proposal was presented to the Board after months of discussion and planning. Two goals drove the development of this proposal. First, we needed to present a plan that prioritized our commitment to academics, and to a lesser degree preserve our commitment to the arts and athletics. The plan had to maintain or improve our academic focus - helping students be successful while they are enrolled in our school district and making sure they are prepared for the next step in their lives.
The proposal presented to the Board works hard to continue our commitment to our students. The proposal adds elementary counselors and an at-risk team for students in grades 7-12. Additionally it makes a commitment to keep classes within reasonable limits - K-2 would be 25 students, 3-6 would be 28, and grades 7-12 would be 29. An early childhood/kindergarten center is proposed. Funding for athletics and the arts, while cut, are still part of our the proposal given to the Board. Elective choices would still be available at the middle and high school. Music, art, and physical education would continue to be available at every level. Reading teachers and reading interventions still be a part of the district's program.
Secondly, the proposal had to save the district money. We have a structural deficit of two million dollars in our budget. We spend two million dollars more than our income. That has to be fixed. We also are receiving less state aid. The Michigan economy and revenue to the state continues to decline. This year we were anticipated a $100 per student drop in revenue. We were one of only 30% of districts in the state that anticipated a drop in state revenue. The drop we planned for added up to almost $520,000 less revenue than we received last year. The state actually has cut revenue by $292 a student. That's a drop in revenue of over 1.5 million dollars. Additionally, as with most Michigan school districts, we are experiencing a drop in enrollment. We anticipated we would have 84 fewer students this fall. We actually only lost 66 students. So while it is a drop in revenue of almost $623,000 it is not as bad as we anticipated.
How can our district save money? Unfortunately, 85% of our district's budget, as with every school district, is connected to people. So while we reduce our expenses for supplies, energy, and other non-personnel related matters, in the end we have to have fewer employees if we are to reduce our budget. That is incredibly difficult to do. Every one of our employees works hard everyday for our students. Our employees make a difference. The difficult part of trying to balance a budget, to make sure our expenses and our income are aligned, is that it will impact the lives of many employees.
As I said earlier, more details are on the restructuring link under the Our District tab on our district website.
The whole educational funding issue has been coming to a head here in Michigan. On November 10 a rally intended to spur communication with our state legislators was held at the Capital. The Save Our Students, Schools, and State (SOS) coalition was behind the rally. The goal is to help our legislators understand that continued cuts to funding will have a dramatic affect on the quality of our schools.
The legislators that I have spoken with, emailed, and called argue that schools need to become more efficient before they would agree to look at changing how schools are funded. I argue that Grand Ledge leads the way in becoming efficient. Our employees pay 30% of their health insurance. Our custodians and bus drivers agreed to significant contract concessions last year. In contract negotiations last year, every other employee group agreed to 0% on the base. Our administrative costs are in the lowest 18% of all districts in the state. We cannot do much more - yet they seem blind to the changes that we have made.
The SOS rally was an attempt to get parents, community members, and school employees rallying to save our state's investment in our schools. Parents and community members will truly make a difference. On our district website under the Board of Education tab we have a Capital Connections link that provides information that is important as we try to protect school funding.
Finally, students from Grand Ledge High School organized a rally on the Capital steps to fight for school funding. I am proud of our students and their interest in quality schools.
I will try and do a better job of updating this blog so that we can continue our conversations about issues that matter to the Grand Ledge Public Schools.
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