South Lake Schools Brace for Some Hard Cuts

South Lake Community Schools officials have some difficult decisions ahead of them in the face of more .

With that in mind, officials hosted a special meeting to make parents and teachers aware of just what that financial crisis is and how it might affect them and their students.

The meeting, held in the media center at the , attracted more than 35 parents and teachers who were anxious to hear about proposed cuts.

Matthew Dishman, director of business and operations at the school district, ran the meeting along with Superintendent Pamela Balint.

“Our main goal here is to educate the parents about what we’re facing,” Balint said. “There’s a lot they might not realize and not understand.”

During the presentation, Dishman showed those assembled that South Lake has made $6.7 million in cuts since the 2005-2006 school year. He also pointed out that things aren’t going to get better any time soon given the consistent rise in health care costs and the equally consistent cuts from the state level.

One of the biggest issues currently facing educators is cuts that, under Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed budget, could strip another $300 per student from school districts as money is taken from the School Aid Fund–equaling $89 million for the entire state–and shifted from K-12 organizations to colleges and universities.

That $300 per student cut is on top of $170 per student cuts that were previously levied but not yet felt, making a total cut of $470 per student.

“The majority of the money we do get now for education comes from the state sales tax,” Balint said. “So when people aren’t buying as much we are impacted.”

Balint also explained that the retirement money is a “vicious circle” with more people retiring all the time.

Dishman said that it was hard to get firm numbers because Snyder hasn’t put forth his final budget yet, but South Lake is looking at a funding reduction of $1.1 million this year. To put it in perspective, however, he said that Utica Community Schools was losing $13.7 million and Chippewa Valley was losing $7.5 million.

“The proposed cuts could actually be worst,” he said. “Right now, we’re looking at this as a Draconian cut as far as we’re concerned.”

South Lake has been making cuts over the past six years and up until now Balint says that the school has managed to keep their services high despite the cuts.

“We’ve really, really worked hard so that the students don’t feel this,” she said. “That’s not what we’re here for.”

Currently, Dishman says that 86 percent of South Lake’s budget is taken up by salary, health care, retirement and FICA for the staff.

“We’re a staff-heavy industry,” he said.

While nothing has been decided, some ideas have been bandied about to fix the problem–which currently stands as a $2.8 million budget hole. Those solutions– which Dishman stressed were only being talked about at this point–include cutting six teachers, cutting contract and support services and reducing support personnel.

Dishman also said that, if they implemented everything on their lists, they could come up with $3.1 million in savings.

“Right now, this is all about education,” he said. “We know that education for our young people is very important.”

Dishman says he hopes to have more firm numbers after the first of June, when Snyder has promised to get his finalized budget in front of legislators. Until then, it’s a waiting game.

Most of the assembled parents were quiet during the meeting and many asked questions about Schools of Choice and sharing services.

Longtime South Lake teacher Timothy Allen also urged parents to take the fight to their state representatives to let them know that education isn’t the only place to cut.

“We are at a crisis when it comes to funding in this state,” he said. “Our kids need a stable environment.”

Following the meeting, Balint said she was pleased with the turnout and hopeful that parents had a better understanding of what the school district is facing.

“This is a tough time for everyone right now,” she said. “The parents are scared, the kids are scared and we, as educators, are doing the best we can in a very difficult situation.”