State Aid Budget Reductions

October 30, 2009

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff and Community:

This year’s State Aid budget imposes a $165 / student reduction in funding for St Johns Public Schools. We are also looking at an additional $127/student pro-ration for this year also. There is speculation of an additional cut from $300 to $1,000 for next year.

The school funding mechanism in Michigan is broken and must be fixed, but this does not change our current situation. A plan will be taken to the Board of Education to cut $292 per student or $950,000 overall but, as these cuts are coming 4 months into the budget year, we must address a shortfall of $1.2 million immediately! SJPS has already faced difficult times by cutting budgets by $6 million since 2002.

These new cuts will impact classrooms in St Johns schools. Everything will be done to minimize the impact on children; however, it will still be very disruptive. There is absolutely no area that can be held harmless in these tough times.

To put these budget cuts into perspective, the $950,000 recently cut from our budget is equivalent to:

ü Compensation for 12 teachers

ü 4 times our general fund allocation for athletics

ü 2/3 of our transportation budget

ü More than our entire annual energy costs

The future of our children still rests in our hands. We still owe them an excellent education. Our children will still compete in a global environment so they must have an excellent education in order to succeed. None of this can deter us from our goals.

Please Share Your Opinion About School Funding

Please consider contacting the decision makers in Lansing to express your opinion about these recent events. Your reaction to these reductions will be very significant in the coming days.

State Government Contacts: