Michigan Schools Dissolution Legislation ((Update: Signed by Governor Snyder)

Buena Vista and Inkster schools prepare for end

Snyder signs bill that allows small, cash-strapped districts to be dissolved

By Kathleen Gray and Lori Higgins Detroit Free Press Staff Writers

   LANSING — The Buena Vista and Inkster school districts are preparing for the worst — closing before the school year even begins.

   The districts’ demises have been years in the making as the number of students and finances in the two cities have been on a steady decline. But the final blow came Tuesday when Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill that will allow the state Superintendent of Education and Treasurer to dissolve small, deficit-laden school districts .

   The final determination of the future of the two districts will be made in “days, not months,” said Snyder. “We have to make sure that we put our students first.”

   Buena Vista Superintendent Deborah Hunter-Harvill said she would prefer the district remain intact and continue educating kids. But she cannot control that.

   “My office plans to be working on transitioning students, getting them to appropriate school districts, working with those school districts and making sure my kids have a smooth landing,” she said.

   The district has been in the midst of a financial crisis for several years, with its deficit ballooning from $51,593 at the end of the 2010-11 to $3.2 million this year, Hunter-Harvill said.

   In May, the district made national news when it shut down classes for two weeks because it could not meet payroll. The final straw for the district came in mid-June, when the state learned the district would default on a $2-million repayment on a state aid loan in August.

   Contributing to the crisis is a steady dip in enrollment in Buena Vista, from 983 students in fall 2008 to 432 in fall 2012 and 250 students in June.

   Snyder and many legislators have been pushing for struggling schools to consolidate for years — with incentives and state resources — in order to reduce the nearly 550 public school and more than 250 charter school districts into a more manageable number. The Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts did just that, holding their first combined school board meeting Tuesday.

   “I hope other schools will take a serious look at that before we get to this type of (dissolution) event,” said state Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Brighton, who sponsored the dissolution bill.

   Dissolving a district could prove harmful not only to the students, but the community as well, said Don Wotruba, deputy director of the Michigan Association of School Boards.

   Under the bill, financially insolvent school districts that have between 300 and 2,400 students can be dissolved. Currently, that would capture only the Buena Vista and Inkster school districts, but not Pontiac, which has about 5,000 students.

   The state is expected to name a review team for the Pontiac school district today, which is the next step toward the appointment of an emergency manager. A total of 55 school districts — including 25 in Wayne, Oakland and Ma-comb counties — are operating with a deficit.

   Students from a dissolved district would be assigned to one or more nearby districts.

   For Robert Gaines, chair of Educate Inkster, a community organization, the bills are disheartening and disenfranchising.

   “It’s the heartbeat of the city,” he said. “Not only do we lose our voice, but we’re sentenced to a school district where our voice is so minute they won’t have to pay attention to us.”