Superintendents: ‘Our students deserve a stable, fully funded school year’
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — Leaders of every school district in St. Joseph County are urging action by state lawmakers as a deadline to pass a state budget looms in just under two weeks.
In a letter to county families and staff on Sept. 3, ISD Superintendent Teresa Belote, as well as the superintendents of all nine school districts in the county, warned of possible program and service cuts, the end of free lunches and other issues in schools across the county if a state budget is not approved by lawmakers in Lansing by Sept. 30.
“State law mandates that lawmakers approve a K-12 school funding budget by July 1st each year so districts like ours can plan and operate with certainty. Our budgets need to be board approved at the local level by July 1st for the fiscal year of July 1st – June 30th,” the letter states. “As of today, no agreement has been reached. That means we are through approximately one sixth of our fiscal year with no way of knowing if our budgets, that were built on projections, will cover expenses.”
If a state budget is not passed, which would also trigger a government shutdown in the state, it would mean the loss of state aid for the schools for an indeterminate period of time until a budget is passed, a critical piece of revenue for each and every school district.
According to publicly-available 2025-26 proposed budget documents from eight of the nine school districts in the county – Constantine does not have their 2025-26 budget posted on their website – state funding sources account for approximately 41 to 89 percent of St. Joseph County school districts’ projected revenue for the school year. The exact figures from those budgets are as follows:
- Burr Oak: 89.5 percent ($5,543,063 of $6,188,016 revenue)
- Centreville: 81.7 percent ($9,987,832 of $12,211,998 revenue)
- Colon: 73.1 percent ($5,388,419 of $7,364,391 revenue)
- Mendon: 67.2 percent ($4,122,452 of $6,130,743 revenue)
- Nottawa: 71 percent ($1,806,639 of $2,541,806 revenue)
- Sturgis: 83.5 percent ($34,335,097 of $41,116,625 revenue)
- Three Rivers: 70.7 percent ($20,994,962 of $29,680,585 revenue)
- White Pigeon: 41.5 percent ($3,530,697 of $8,500,654 revenue)
Much of the state revenue in the local districts listed have been projected and budgeted prior to the state budget being passed and are usually using assumptions about what the budget might look like; the budgets then get amended later on with more accurate amounts once a state budget passes. State revenues that go to the districts from the state budget include the per-pupil foundation allowance, state grants, categoricals, and retirement reimbursements.
Without that funding, the superintendents wrote, they are put in a “challenging situation.”
“The challenge as school leaders is how to make decisions in the absence of funding guarantees. We have a commitment to our communities to be fiscally responsible and in the absence of information regarding funding, we are in a challenging position,” the letter stated.
The state funds, the superintendents state, cover a sizable amount of the district’s operations, including student support services, bus operations, academic programs, athletics, the arts, and most importantly, teacher and staff salaries.
“We understand the challenges our legislators face in balancing budgets but moving money out of the school aid fund undermines the system that was built strategically to ensure schools were funded to operate efficiently,” the letter states.
“We have reached out to our elected officials, asking them to act quickly. If you have concerns regarding the possibility of ending the free lunch programming, weighted funding for students with special needs, or potential cuts to career technical education, feel free to contact our state lawmakers as well.”
At Monday’s Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education meeting, the district’s business and finance director, Mandi Zaborowski, stated that the first state aid payment for schools typically occurs on Oct. 20, as no state aid is given during September.
“When the state doesn’t pass a budget, that can be problematic for our schools,” Zaborowski said.
State legislators have been debating a budget for the last several months, with the Democrat-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House unable to come together on one single budget for the year. One of the main sticking points is finding $3 billion for road funding, which, according to a Sept. 14 article in the Detroit News, House Speaker Matt Hall (R – Richland Township) and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer want to accomplish, but “disagree on how to do it.”
According to the Detroit News article, Hall had “voiced optimism” that lawmakers would approve a budget for K-12 schools by Oct. 1, but that state leaders should nonetheless prepare for a government shutdown.
“I think that it makes sense for them to look at their options,” the House speaker said, according to the Detroit News.
Whatever happens with the state budget, however, St. Joseph County’s school leaders made it clear – a budget needs to be passed for the sake of the students.
“Our students deserve a stable, fully funded school year,” the letter states. “Together, we can ensure their learning continues without interruption and our families aren’t unduly burdened with last minute changes to budgets that support their children’s education.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
