Last month, Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed a new state budget for the year 2009 that would increase aid to public schools from $108 to $216 per student, depending on how much a school district was already spending per pupil. She also proposed that no district would get less than $7,420, up from the minimum $7,204 each district must receive currently.   

According to Justin King, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, the association was “generally supportive of the proposal” in that it “recognizes that public K-12 education in Michigan needs an increase in order to maintain a high quality education.” 

Yet, King said, the increased aid to schools may be mitigated as other costs rise. 

“Unfortunately, the increase is not likely to cover the inflationary costs of healthcare, fuel and electricity,” King said,  “[And,] since Michigan schools are funded on a per-pupil basis, districts with declining enrollment are likely to fall behind because the increase won’t make up for the losses that result from fewer students in the classroom.” 

Over 400 of Michigan’s 552 school districts are experiencing decreased enrollment.  Currently, the total number of students in K-12 classrooms is about 1.65 million, down more than 25,000 from last year. 

Albion Public Schools are not excluded. According to Thomas Hunsdorfer, assistant to the president and member of the Albion Public Schools Board of Education, enrollment has declined 22 of the last 26 years, from roughly 2100 students to just 1400 in the past five years.   

According to Hunsdorfer, in response to declining enrollment over the years, Albion Public Schools was forced to reconfigure both the number and buildings in operation, going from having four buildings that each housed K-5 programs, to two of its current buildings: Harrington Elementary, which houses pre-school to second grade, and Washington Gardner Elementary, which houses grades three through five.  They were also forced to cut staff and several programs, including an alternative education program that provided people who had not completed high school an opportunity to obtain their GED.  Hunsdorfer said that future reconsiderations are presently being considered. 

Hundorfer said that another issue contributing to budget woes is School of Choice, a state policy passed in 1996 that gives parents greater liberty to choose where they send their children to school. 

According to Hunsdorfer, the school budget for the upcoming school year is planned around May or June. During the months between when the budget is planned and when school starts in September, if a significant number of parents decide to send their kids elsewhere as permitted through School of Choice and overall enrollment declines, they receive an amount less than they had previously budgeted. 

 “If we’re planning the budget in May or June and [say] 100 families decide to send their kids elsewhere during the summer, in September, when the state requires us to take a head count, if there are less students than we anticipated, we will not receive the money we previously budgeted,” Hunsdorfer said. “It’s a social conflict. Parents want their kids to go to the best schools, but what’s best for the individual, isn’t always best for the community.”  

“Per pupil funding and School of Choice have worked against the Albion Public Schools and the very nature of the community in Albion,” said Dan Skean, professor of biology and a candidate for the Albion School Board of Education. 

According to Hunsdorfer, 300 kids in Albion go to school elsewhere. Yet, Albion Public Schools has a lot of resources to offer that other schools do not, including an arrangement with the Battle Creek Mathematics and Science Center in Battle Creek to send students who wish to further pursue the subjects of math and science as well as a duel-enrollment program with Albion College, where high school students can take classes at Albion College for college credit, which, Hunsdorfer says “are likely more easily transferable than credits from a community college might be.”  

The number of Albion College students contributing in services such as tutoring and coaching has also grown substantially in the past few years. 

According to King, among the reasons for declining K-12 enrollment across Michigan is the lack of opportunities for young people.

 “There is an “exodus” of young people leaving the state due to our poor economy to seek employment in other parts of the country. Small and/or rural towns are not attractive to young people either staying there after graduation or coming there to seek employment.” 

According to King, Albion Public Schools will see an increase of $215 per pupil, a figure at almost the apex of the range increase. 

  “Considering the increased cost in healthcare, fuel, and so on, it really doesn’t give them much,” King said.