Northville School District Announces Community Budget Forum Dates

- From a school district email

School families, students, staff and community members will get a clearer picture of the ongoing budget challenges facing Northville Public Schools for the 2012-13 school year and beyond, as well as the anticipated impact on educational programs, services and staffing during two community forums being sponsored by the Northville Board of Education in May.

The Community Forums are scheduled for the following dates, times and locations:

• Thursday, May 10 from 7-8:30 p.m. at Hillside Middle School's cafeteria
• Monday, May 14 from 7-8:30 p.m. at Meads Mill Middle School's cafeteria

Why Host Community Forums?

“Michigan’s current economic climate and school funding structure — which Michigan public schools rely on for 90 percent of their funding — are creating extraordinary budget challenges for our district as we struggle to manage resources and protect the learning that takes place in our classrooms every day,” said Northville Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher. “For the past decade, reductions in the state’s funding allocation, coupled with recent steep increases in mandatory retirement contributions have resulted in a significant decline in real dollars for K-12 education.”

Under Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s current budget proposal for the 2012-13 school year, Northville Public Schools faces the continued impact of the 2011-12 funding loss of $470 per student. This is in addition to the cost impact of offering full-day kindergarten (due to pending legislation) and an increase in the district’s mandatory state retirement contribution equal to between $155 and $170 per student, among other budget actions with a potentially negative impact on Northville Public Schools.

 “With nearly $9.8 million in budget reductions for the district since February 2010, there are no easy answers or painless steps to take at this point in time,” Gallagher added.  “Students and their families, teachers, administrators, and support staff have all experienced the impact of these budget reductions.  We continue to look for potential areas for revenue-generation as well as cost-cutting, and are mindful of the impact increases in class size and class configuration have already had on our students, staff and parents.”   

“As a district and a community our challenge is to respond to this new reality in ways that ensure we continue to provide an excellent educational experience for all students.”

What Can I Expect at the Forums?

The Northville Board of Education and district leaders are hosting the community forums with the goal of creating an understanding among school families and the community of the district’s continuing budget challenges, as well as to engage the community in a discussion of what families can expect in Fall 2012 and beyond – from class size to school building capacity and from budget issues to the challenges of 21^st century learning.  The forums will also outline the proactive steps the district is taking to address, to the extent possible, the impact on student learning.

Following the 30-minute presentation, Board of Education members and district leaders will be available to meet with forum participants in small groups and answer questions. In addition, representatives from the Northville Council of PTAs Legislative Action Network will be on hand to share the impact of the Governor’s budget proposal and other pending legislation on Northville Public Schools.

School families, staff and community members are encouraged to attend the community forum that best meets their schedule. The content and format will be the same at both forums.

What if I’m Unable to Attend One of the Forums?

The same information presented at the forums also will be available beginning May 10 on the district website, www.northville.k12.mi.us.

What Else Can I Do?

In addition to attending the forums, school parents and community members are strongly encouraged to contact their elected officials and voice their concern about the depth of the proposed cuts to school funding. Contact information for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and the state legislators representing the Northville school community are available on the district website, www.northville.k12.mi.us by clicking on the LAN Action Alerts.