School board, superintendent raise state budget concerns
by John Morris

TAWAS CITY - Tawas Area Schools Board of Education and its superintendent again voiced frustration and concern Monday about the lack of progress in solving the state’s financial crisis and how it will impact school districts across the state.

“Not much that could be characterized as definitive is coming out of Lansing,” Superintendent Donald Thwing told at the school board at its regular meeting.
“We’re finding ourselves in the same place we were in the spring.”

According to Thwing, the Michigan Legislature is facing an Oct. 1 deadline to address the state’s projected $1.7 to $1.8 billion deficit in the 2007-08 budget.

“Both the Republican-controlled state Senate and the Democrat majority in the House are contemplating votes on major tax increases,” he said.

Thwing told the school board the Senate looks to be leaning toward an increase in Michigan’s six cent sales tax while the House has been contemplating an income tax increase.

“While there is general consensus on both sides of the aisle that getting the budget resolved has to happen, there is disagreement on how to do it,” he said.

He said there was talk in Lansing of combining a one-cent increase in the sales tax with a hike in the income tax. But Thwing said state lawmakers missed the midnight deadline Thursday for the issue to go the November ballot.

“What if they can’t get it finished and they have to go on a shutdown,” Thwing asked. “We’ve had pay-less pay days in the state, but not at schools.”

“Luckily we have a fund balance to weather a short-term lack of resolution.”

But Thwing said that’s not the case of all school districts in the state. The superintendent said he knows of at least 24 other school districts in Michigan that are operating under a deficit.

“If they (state lawmakers) present a cut in the foundation grant, it will put some districts in trouble,” he said.

“What if they can’t get it finished and they have to go on a shutdown,” Thwing asked. “We’ve had pay-less pay days in the state, but not at schools.”

“Luckily we have a fund balance to weather a short-term lack of resolution.”

But Thwing said that’s not the case of all school districts in the state. The superintendent said he knows of at least 24 other school districts in Michigan that are operating under a deficit.

“If they (state lawmakers) present a cut in the foundation grant, it will put some districts in trouble,” he said.

Renee Bird, school board secretary, also voiced her frustration in the state’s lack of progress over the past 12 months in solving it’s financial woes. “It’s frustrating,” she said. “They’ve had a year, yet they take spring and winter breaks and still do nothing.”

Thwing said the real frustration is that the district is beginning its second week of school and “we still don’t know what our foundation grant is.”

Elaine Brown, school board president, added that Tawas Area, like other districts across the state, builds its annual budgets on a “best guess” on how much they’ll receive from the state in the foundation allowances.

“They need to work together to get a resolution,” Thwing said of state lawmakers. “It would be most unfortunate if they don’t adopt anything of consequence over the immediacy of this crisis.

“It seems like we’re going to go from one crisis to the next, to the next.”

Thwing urged area residents to contact their state lawmakers. “You don’t have to take a stand,” he said, “just to get them to work together to solve this.”

In the meantime, Thwing said the district has 1,506 students as of 5 p.m. Monday. The numbers came in response to some teachers rasing concern over large class sizes in some grade levels.

Thwing said last year at this time the district had 1,515 students which dropped down to 1,483 at the end of September official head count. He expects the same thing to occur this year.

“Often times, they don’t stay,” he said. “Some kids will move and we won’t be told.”

He said the higher numbers this year are mostly in the second through fifth grades.

“It’s not a situation of our choosing and it’s not our philosophy,” he said of the high class sizes. “With the unstable budget and unsure population, we’ll continue to monitor it daily and manage it under these difficult situations.”

The school board also on Monday approved a five cent increase in a carton of milk from 35 cents to 40. The increase in due to significantly higher cost of milk, Thwing said.

The increase won’t be immediate, Thwing said, as officials will need time to notify parents and guardians.

The board also heard a report from Thwing on the high scores by Tawas Area students on the Michigan Merit Examination tests. The scores for schools across the county were previously reported in the Iosco County News-Herald.

Thwing also reported that the Michigan Department of Education has handed out its Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status report on three of the district’s four buildings. Clara Bolen Elementary received a grade of A while Tawas City Elementary and Tawas Area Junior High received B grades.

He said the high school composite grades have not yet been released but “we are confident that they did very well.

“All buildings met AYP and none of our schools have been identified as needing improvement,” he said. “The students, their parents and are staff are to be congratulated for this fine accomplishment.”

The board also approved maternity leaves for speech pathologist Nicole Eklund and varsity cheerleading co-coach Nicole Sheldon and accepted the resignation from boys junior varsity head coach William Stoll.