http://www.freep.com/article/20130515/NEWS06/305150090/Buena-Vista-schools-to-reopen
http://www.infowars.com/michigan-district-fires-all-teachers-closes-every-school/
Students in the Buena Vista school district near Saginaw will head back to class, in part because of a new deficit-elimination plan that is “largely dependent on staff reductions,” according to a letter from state schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan.
But it’s unclear when students can return.
“We’re trying to determine that now as we speak,” Superintendent Deborah Hunter-Harvill said Wednesday. She said the schools will open “ideally Friday.”
The Board of Education is to meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at its central office, according to the district’s website.
The Michigan Department of Education had been withholding state aid to recoup $580,000 in funding the state provided for a program for incarcerated youth. The district stopped running the program but failed to notify the state. The financial crisis led the district to cancel classes May 3.
That threw into uncertainty the ability of students to complete their grade level and move on, and seniors wondered whether they would graduate. Pressure continued to grow in Lansing to find a solution.
A spokesman for MDE said Wednesday that the debt to the state has been addressed.
A state aid deduction of $180,000 — essentially state aid that has not been sent to Buena Vista — reduced the debt to about $400,000, said MDE spokeswoman Jan Ellis.
“Then a recent property tax adjustment by the Saginaw County Treasurer’s Office generated additional school district revenue. Property values are on the incline,” Ellis said. “That revenue enabled the state to recoup what the school owes.”
Saginaw County Treasurer Tim Novak, said he has been reviewing property values in recent days. In many cases, assessors have increased values on properties over the past year as part of a routine reassessment of property.
In totaling those adjustments, Novak found property values have increased by about $2 million over the past year or so in the Buena Vista school district, and the district will receive more state aid than initially estimated, he said.
Additionally, the district owed the county $543,482 in property taxes that were due in January and April, but the county owed the district about $279,945 in delinquent and adjusted tax revenues, he said.
School and county officials agreed that the school simply will pay the difference. The bookkeeping move frees up the district’s cash flow.
In his letter to the district, Flanagan made clear that the district must report budget information to the state at least monthly both by telephone and in writing. The district also must post its deficit-elimination plan on its website in the next 30 days.
The MDE will release state aid funds beginning with the regularly scheduled state aid payment date of May 20.
http://www.infowars.com/michigan-district-fires-all-teachers-closes-every-school/
Michigan District Fires All Teachers, Closes Every School
Yahoo! News
May 14, 2013
May 14, 2013
Buena Vista High School, via bvsd.k12.mi.us.
Summer break has started very early for kids in one Michigan school district.
Buena Vista schools have been closed for five days already, and on Monday, the district’s website stated that the school would be closed until further notice. For good reason, this decision has parents, and the community, up in arms.
The problem in Buena Vista is that the school district, educating approximately 450 kids, is out of money. All the teachers have been laid off and a financial emergency has been declared. The district has suffered from declining enrollment, which, in turn, has led to a loss of $3 million in state funding since 2010.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130513/SCHOOLS/305130371
Buena Vista superintendent: 'School is over'
for the year
Buena Vista Township — Despite having a month left on the school calendar, Buena Vista Schools Superintendent Deborah Hunter-Harvill announced Monday that "school is over" during a meeting with state education officials, one week after her district closed its doors to students because it cannot pay its teachers.
State Superintendent Mike Flanagan met with local superintendents Monday to discuss education options for the 431 children who haven't had classes since May 3.
State education official said eligible students will advance to the next grade and seniors will graduate from the district, said Jan Ellis, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Education.
The district is considering a four to six week "Enhancement Skills Camp" in district buildings where students can continue learning. Local teachers will be given the first opportunity for the positions.
The school board is expected to meet Tuesday to discuss a plan and consider approval of a camp, Ellis said.
The Department of Education is working with the district to establish meal centers this week and school meals at the camp. Federal funding can be used, state officials said.
Beginning Tuesday morning, the Saginaw School District Food Service director will offer breakfast and lunch at Buena Vista High School. The meal times are breakfast from 7-9:30 a.m. and lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Ellis said.
The district laid off teachers and all but three employees May 6. The district has said it wouldn't be able to make payroll May 24 because the state put a hold on its funding to recoup about $580,000 for a juvenile detention education program the district no longer operates.
A congressman and a state representative criticized the decision to cancel classes for the rest of the school year.
"I do not believe that a voluntary camp amounts to a proper education for the children of Buena Vista," said U.S. Rep Dan Kildee, D-Flint. "It is dangerous precedent to allow school districts to close six weeks early as a cost-saving measure, only to replace a child's education with a voluntary camp."
State Rep. Stacy Erwin Oaks, D-Saginaw, said she was "frustrated" by the outcome after Gov. Rick Snyder declined to tap the state's rainy day fund to keep the district open. She said the state should have loaned the district $500,000, to be repaid by reducing its state aid by $100,000 annually over five years.
"At the end of the day, I think it's great that we're trying to do something, but I think we've ignored several options that could have those students back in school tomorrow," Oaks said.
Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday officials were working to find the best solution for students, but current situation "is not the way things should operate."
"I have confidence in Mike (Flanagan) that we're going to continue to work forward to get a solution that's workable," Snyder said. "It's a tough situation late in the school year to have something like this happen or anytime during the school year."
and Pontiac Schools also facing troubles.....
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130514/SCHOOLS/305140354/1409/METRO/Pontiac-schools-vows-layoffs-under-6-year-plan-close-37-7M-deficit
Pontiac schools vows layoffs under 6-year
plan to close $37.7M deficit
State says it has concerns about district's 6-year plan to address shortfall
The Pontiac School District is pledging to make massive reductions in staff and use $6 million from an insurance settlement and $1 million in future real estate sales to balance its books in the next six years, according to its latest deficit reduction plan.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan on Monday sent the district a letter citing several concerns he had about the plan, which takes six years rather than the standard five the state gives school districts to pay down debt.
Pontiac's deficit is $37.7 million.
Flanagan wrote that because the plan is "largely dependent on staff reductions" and using money that is not in hand, the state has set several contingencies — mainly that if the planned cuts and cash infusions do not occur, the district must make more reductions to stay on schedule.
Under its plan, the district will cut $8.2 million in 2013-14 and $1.6 million in 2014-15, leaving it with a positive fund balance of $823,897.
Figures for the remaining two budget years were not immediately available.
The state Department of Education withheld the district's state school aid payments for March and April after it failed to make "sufficient progress" on eliminating its deficit.
The district used cash advances from Oakland Intermediate Schools for its May 3 payroll, Flanagan said, and there are no further funds that can be advanced by the intermediate countywide school district to allow Pontiac to make a payroll of $875,000.
Late Friday, Flanagan approved the deficit elimination plan, allowing the district to receive withheld funds and continue to operate, said Department of Education spokesman Martin Ackley.
The school board and district officials held an emergency meeting Friday to respond to parents and teachers.
According to the Department of Education, the district's deficit has risen steadily since 2009, when it was $8.5 million.
Meanwhile, the district's superintendent, Brian Dougherty, said last week he is resigning effective Friday.
Calls to Dougherty were not returned Monday.
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