UCS Slashes $9 Million from Budget

A second round of slashing from the Utica Community School District’s budget will save the district another $9 million.

This is the second severe cut the district has made in the past few months. In March, the Board of Education approved $7.8 million in cost reductions from the 2011-2012 school year.

The Utica School Board of Education Monday unanimously approved the reductions, which include:

• A one-time only transfer of funding from emergency building maintenance, direct costs for community education and the release of benefit obligations—$7,034,000

• Reductions in building-level and central office expenditures—$1,041,000

• A 50 percent reduction in secondary textbook replacements—$123,000

• The use of proceeds from high school student store operations— $530,000

President Dr. Carol Klenow said the cuts have taken a cushion from the district’s budget.

“The one-time transfers signal we are cutting at a level I have never seen in all my time on the school board," said the veteran board member at Monday’s meeting.

UCS Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns said the district is exploring every avenue to make cuts without affecting the children’s education, but the district is coming close with the looming school funding crisis.

“We’ve already made more than $65 million in reductions, and it is increasingly difficult to make these cuts without dramatically impacting classroom programs and students,” she said in a statement.

State lawmakers are currently considering a school funding proposal that includes a $470 reduction in school aid and a mandatory retirement rate increase from 20.66 percent to 24.46 percent. The retirement rate increase represents a 18.4 percent increase–or $216 per student.

Since Proposal A took effect in 1994, the majority of funding for Michigan school districts is annually established by the state legislature.

Earlier this year, UCS officials announced the school district would face an estimated $36.7 million deficit for the next school year. After the board’s actions Monday, UCS officials are now anticipating a $19.8 million deficit for the 2011-2012 school year.

The district said further reductions are anticipated if Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed K-12 budget is approved.

“We will continue to work with local legislators to create an understanding of the severe impact that these funding reductions will have on our students,” Johns said.

The Utica Community Schools Board of Education previously adopted a resolution urging state lawmakers to continue to work with school officials to minimize the impact on UCS students. The resolution, adopted at the March 28 meeting, also expressed concern with a proposal to divert more than $900 million toward higher education from the school aid fund.

“I believe the residents of Michigan were led to believe that school aid funding from Proposal A would only be used for K-12 education,” Klenow said.

More information on the UCS budget and updates on state budget proposals are available on the district website: www.uticak12.org.