Education leaders call for reversal of $300 million cut in mental health and school safety grants
Lansing – The Michigan Legislature’s $83 billion budget, awaiting Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature, cuts funding for school safety and mental health by nearly $300 million, drawing criticism from school superintendents and the elected Michigan State Board of Education.
Education officials across the state argue that cutting the funding available to schools from $328 million to $26.5 million will have harmful effects given the rising number of mental health problems among students.
The cuts come as school districts are still reeling from the House’s decision to freeze per-pupil funding for the upcoming school year. It’s the first time in years that lawmakers have not voted to increase basic operating funding for public K-12 schools.
Funding for school safety and mental health remained largely stable after the 2021 Oxford High School shooting that left four students dead, but was drastically cut in the most recent budget. Nearly 200 Michigan school districts have hired police officers to increase school safety in the years since the Oxford shooting.
The State Board of Education on Thursday urged lawmakers to “reverse” funding cuts for mental health and school safety, noting that it had asked the state Legislature in June to make the $328 million from last year’s budget permanent.
“This comes at a time when we are seeing a continued rise in gun violence in many Michigan communities and when students and families are still reeling from the aftermath of Oxford, MSU and numerous mass shootings across the state,” Pamela Pugh, president of the State Board of Education, said in a statement. Pugh is currently running for the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District in the Aug. 6 primary election.
Several school administration groups also commented on the cuts to school safety and mental health funding, arguing that the cuts took them completely by surprise and that there was little explanation as to what the money would be used for instead.
Northville Public Schools’ share of the grant will drop from about $1.5 million this year to about $123,000 next school year, Superintendent RJ Webber said. The money was spent to support the hiring of a school resource officer, support safety improvements at schools and implement a student emotional support program.
“That’s how big the difference is,” Webber said of the cut in funding for the district. “Where did the money go?”
He added: “If this is such a good budget, why are all the major educational institutions in the state of Michigan upset? That is a serious question.”
House Budget Committee Chair Angela Witwer noted that previous budgets included an influx of federal funds that allowed for one-time spending, such as the hundreds of millions allocated for school safety and mental health. With those one-time funds gone, lawmakers agreed to $25 million in ongoing funding for mental health, the Delta Township Democrat said.
“The use of current funds reflects our commitment to school safety, and I would support additional funding being directed to this area of the budget,” Witwer said. “No decisions have been made regarding a supplemental (spending bill).”
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) did not respond to a request for comment on the reason for the cut or the possibility of additional funding in a future supplemental budget.
Over the past two years, lawmakers have allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to the School Safety Improvement and Mental Health Resources Grant Program. Lawmakers have allocated approximately $150 million to the per-pupil mental health grant fund in fiscal year 2022-23 and $328 million in fiscal year 2023-24.
The first editions of the state budget for fiscal year 2024-25 included far more funding than the final product. Whitmer’s office had recommended about $300 million to improve mental health and school safety, the House budget proposed just over $340 million, and the Senate budget proposed $150 million.
But the final budget only included $26.5 million. It is unclear what prompted these drastic cuts, as the governor and lawmakers have known for months that they would have less federal funding available this fiscal year.
After the budget was passed, the state had about $320 million on the books, but allocating that money to mental health grants would leave the state without the buffer it may need for year-end spending in late September.
In addition to cutting mental health subsidies, the per-pupil subsidy in public schools was also frozen after years of increasing that base subsidy. It currently stands at $9,608 per student. Instead, about $598 million in school district pension costs was taken out of the budget, freeing up those funds for classroom instruction.
However, school inspectors continued to express concern, pointing out that the pension cost relief was a one-off measure and did not represent a guaranteed saving in future budgets.
The Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators issued a statement saying the budget “will result in layoffs this fall and in the future.”
The House of Representatives has approved a bill that would have permanently capped pension payments. However, the leadership team led by Speaker Joe Tate did not forward the bill to the Senate before the upper house went into its summer recess.
The Senate’s failure to approve the bill angered some House Democrats, who told The Detroit News that they had been misled by Tate into believing that the bill to make the pension permanent would be sent to the Senate for a vote before adjournment.
The cut in funding for school safety and mental health drew significant criticism from Republicans in the House and Senate, who argued the cut would mean the loss of school resource officers and psychologists in schools. They pointed out that the cuts came after more than $400 million had been directed to pet projects designed to benefit the communities of certain lawmakers.
“Student safety during class should be the top priority, and it’s a shame that school safety appears to be the first thing Democrats put on the list,” Republican Rep. Mike Harris of Waterford said of the cuts.
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