Northeast Michigan school districts cut spending as COVID-19 funds run out | News, Sports, Jobs

News photo by Temi Fadayomi. The Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District building is pictured in Alpena last week.

ALPENA – Most school districts in northeast Michigan are anticipating spending cuts next school year as they use up federal funding they received to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Six school districts in northeast Michigan reported that they expect total revenues of $86.6 million and expenses of $87.8 million in their new general budgets.

Last school year, those six districts raised a total of $94 million in revenue and spent $93.5 million, according to the most recent update of the schools’ spending plans for 2023-24.

This means that schools have cut their spending by a total of about $5.7 million between the last and current fiscal years.

Rogers City Area Schools officials did not respond to requests for comment for this article, and the district has not posted its budget online, so the district’s spending plans are not reflected in these totals.

About $3.5 million of this school year’s cuts will affect Alpena Public Schools.

APS Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said the reduced spending is largely due to one-time costs, such as building repairs, that the district had last year but doesn’t have to spend money on this year. No layoffs are planned this school year, he said.

“We are still well positioned for the next few years,” said Rabbideau. “We are definitely keeping an eye on it and planning conservatively.”

Any district that spends more than it takes in will have to dip into its savings accounts to make up the shortfall. The six school budgets reviewed by The News show that schools will have a total of $19.5 million in the bank at the end of the upcoming school year.

All six school districts whose budgets The News was able to review have cut spending, except for Hillman Community Schools, which plans to increase spending by more than $100,000.

Hillman Superintendent Pamela Rader said her district’s increased spending is a result of a raise for Hillman teachers. The superintendent said teachers will receive a 2% raise each year for the next three years. While negotiations with support staff are ongoing, the current budget for 2024-25 was created assuming support staff will receive the same raise.

“We want to invest in our employees because they come in every day and give 110%,” Rader said. “Even though all of this is happening, there are certain things we can control. We want to show our employees that we value them.”

The new fiscal year began July 1. School boards had to approve budgets before the state finalized its budget, so schools will likely adjust their spending plans throughout the year. The state will pay schools the same amount per student in the coming school year as it did last year.

In the 2024-25 school year, APS projects revenue of $54.4 million, compared to $58.4 million in the 2023-24 school year. The district projects expenses of $54.4 million, compared to $57.8 million last school year. That could save the district $14.1 million by next summer.

Hillman projects revenues of $6.1 million (compared to $6.7 million last year) and expenses of $6.8 million (compared to $6.7 million in the 2023-24 school year), which would save the district $683,078 by the end of the upcoming school year.

Alcona Community Schools expects revenues of $11.1 million (compared to $12.2 million last year) and expenses of $11.1 million (compared to $12.3 million last year), resulting in savings of $1.2 million by next summer.

The Onaway Area School District’s 2024-25 budget calls for revenues of $8 million (up from $8.4 million last school year) and expenses of $8 million (up from $8.1 million last year), leaving $1.7 million in the bank until next summer.

Posen Community Schools expects revenues of $3.2 million (compared to $3.6 million last year) and expenses of $3.2 million (compared to $3.5 million last school year), resulting in savings of $641,887 by next summer.

Atlanta Community Schools’ latest budget calls for revenues of $4.2 million (up from $4.8 million last year) and expenses of $4.3 million (up from $4.9 million last year), resulting in savings of $1.2 million at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District’s budget for the coming school year calls for $12.6 million in revenue for its special education fund, its main source of funding. That’s up from $12.5 million last school year. The district expects to spend $15.3 million, up from $14 million last year. That would result in a $2.7 million deficit next year, compared to a $113,577 surplus last year.

Reach Temi Fadayomi at 989-358-5693 or [email protected].