The Oakland Press (theoaklandpress.com), Serving Oakland County
By DIANA DILLABER MURRAY
Of The Oakland Press
School officials in Pontiac are taking steps to avoid Detroit’s fate of having an emergency manager appointed to take over the district’s financial operations.
State School Superintendent Michael Flanagan announced last week he will name a financial manager for Detroit Schools “to balance the district’s budget, pay its bills, manage the spending and establish strong and reliable financial systems.”
In reaction, acting Pontiac Superintendent Linda Paramore and Deputy Superintendent for Finance Felix Chow said this week they are confident the administration and school board are taking steps now that will prevent such an action in Pontiac, which is projecting a $10 million deficit by the end of the year.
“I don’t think the state will have to do that,” Paramore said. “This board has already shown they have the will to make changes and we don’t have the history Detroit has.”
Information at recent public forums indicated the Pontiac
district will be downsized from 20 buildings for 20,000 children to around half that, to be more efficient and avoid such a large deficit.
Merging of the high schools and consolidating of other schools is likely to better fit the current enrollment of 6,700 enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grade, and still allow for some growth.
“This is the first time the board has had to move in this direction, and Dr. Chow is very capable of leading us in this planned realignment and keeping us from the same errors,” Paramore said.
Board Vice President Gill Garrett, chairman of the instructional subcommittee, said the board is “taking a more proactive approach.”
“Our process has everyone involved and we are opening it to everyone before the board makes a decision,” he said.
School officials have appointed a community advisory committee that is working to come up with recommendations on how to downsize the district. The effort is expected to greatly reduce the projected budget deficit and improve educational programs by restructuring and consolidating the schools.
Garrett noted the Bloomfield Hills School District’s administrative proposal to close two more schools to maintain financial stability.
“They understand it is not the schools that educate kids. It’s the teachers who educate kids,” he said.
State Department of Education spokeswoman Jan Ellis said the department is aware Pontiac “was concerned about a deficit, as are many other districts,” but the state is not prepared to send in an emergency financial manager anytime soon.
The state has in its possession the balanced 2006-2007 audit, Ellis said, with $4 million in the fund balance submitted by the state’s Nov. 15 deadline. So there is no action under consideration, because the $10 million is only a projection, she said.
“If Pontiac does end up with a deficit, final audited numbers will not come into the department until Nov. 15 next year,” Ellis said. “We will, of course, work with the school district to develop a plan to eliminate the deficit and that is usually done over several years. The average district does not stay in deficit long, and we would hope we could work together to resolve it quickly,” should that happen.
The 1,532-student Madison school district reduced its 2005-2006 deficit of $1.6 million by $1 million last school year, Ellis said. It has had a deficit for several years, but is working with the state and Oakland Schools intermediate district toward a balanced budget.
In Detroit, the drastic action of appointing an emergency financial manager was taken because Detroit schools failed to submit a revised deficit reduction plan to eliminate a $400 million deficit, Flanagan said. The board plans to appeal.
Flanagan said the district failed to abide by the conditions and detail required by a consent agreement entered into by the district and a financial review team appointed by Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. In addition, all budget documents submitted to the state were not acceptable, he said.
“The students’ learning and achievement are suffering because of the district’s financial turmoil,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan also said in a press release that the board did not grant Superintendent Connie Calloway authority to establish a deficit elimination plan without further involvement by the school board.
Pontiac’s projected $10 million deficit is much smaller than the $400 million projected for the Detroit district, but the Pontiac district is smaller — 6,700 students to Detroit’s 98,000.
The $10 million is about 10 percent of Pontiac schools’ budget, while the $400 million deficit is about one-third of Detroit schools’ $1.1 billion budget.
Immediately after the 2006-2007 audit was presented, Paramore advised state officials of the possibility of a deficit at the end of this school year.
The Pontiac superintendent said Chow will request a budget adjustment in early 2009 and will present the district’s financial status with more definite projections then. The district then will have 30 days to submit a deficit reduction plan to the state Department of Management and Budget to start the process, Paramore said.
Once the plan is approved, budgetary control reports must be submitted to the state for approval on a monthly basis.
In the southern part of Oakland County, Madison Heights school district also is working to eliminate a deficit and avoid the appointment of a state-appointed financial manager.
FYI
The Pontiac community advisory committee will present its tentative recommendations for school restructuring to the Board of Education 12:30 today at the Odell Nails Adminstration Building . Trustees will not vote on the fate of the school district until February, after the final in a series of public forums Jan. 13 at Whitmer Human Resource Center in the cityschool complex off Auburn Road and Woodward northbound.
No comments:
Post a Comment