And the numbers are in… well, sort of.
The Michigan Legislature and Governor Jennifer Granholm have recently reached a budget agreement that will cut $100 per student from the schools’ state foundation grants.
According to Oxford Schools Assistant Superintendent Ron Franey, the budget will be treating the cut as a “bill-back,” or a separate line item where the schools basically “pay back” the $100 per student to the state. “I’m not sure why they did it that way, I guess it’s so they can say they still gave us $6,958,” said Franey. “Either way, I still only get $6,858 per student.”
The $100 will be taken in small increments from the remaining state aid payments for this year.
This means Oxford Schools, which has 4,040 students, will be losing around $404,000 in revenue over the next eight payments.
However, the $100 cut is still not set in stone.
Schools across the state have been warned that this number could vary slightly over the rest of the fiscal year, and any differences will be balanced at the end. Franey said he is using the $100 figure for Oxford Schools and will be making adjustments as possible, even dipping into the district’s fund balance if needed.
“We can’t remove any teachers at this point or anything like that, the contracts are already set,” he stated. “There’s really not too much we can do.”
The first portion of the states “bill-back” should be made in the January state aid payment.
Franey said he expects to present the revisions for the 2003-2004 budget to the school board shortly after.