District Update, 9/22/25
Good afternoon,
The school aid budget, due July 1, has still not been completed. The legislature is required by law to pass the school aid budget - Public Act 94 of 1979 (the State School Aid Act) was amended in 2018 to specifically mandate that the Legislature and Governor enact the K-12 school aid budget by July 1. Alas the law has no penalty for not passing the budget. So even though the legislature has broken the law they will not suffer any consequence for their inaction.
So here we sit.
No budget and no real indication that a budget will be passed soon.
For those of you who are interested the process is not simple or quick.
- The legislature has to agree on a budget that can be passed by a majority of both the House and Senate.
- Then it has to go to the Governor for signature into law.
- Before the Governor will sign it, the Governor has her staff and the attorneys in her office review the bill to ensure that it is legal, clear, and has no unintended consequences.
- After passage of the bill, it can be another two weeks before the Governor is ready to sign the bill.
So, what does that mean for us?
Our district is fortunate. We have cash reserves. They are not meant for this but, for now, we have the ability to withstand a disruption from the state.
If you are willing, I would encourage you to reach out to our legislators.
The message is simple:
- We need a budget for the school year that has already started.
- It is irresponsible for the legislature to expect schools to cover expenses for this school year without knowing our budget.
- The school aid budget should be used to support K-12 education.
- School aid needs to support K-12 education as much as possible.
- Universities and colleges already receive funding from the school aid budget even though when Proposal A started in 1994, they were funded exclusively from the general fund.
- Higher education is important but they can raise tuition or expand enrollment to generate revenue.
- K-12 public school districts do not have those options.
- Proposal A in 1994 was sold to the voters as a K-12 funding source.
- Taking money from K-12 to fund roads is not acceptable.
- Strong public schools should be a priority.
- School aid needs to be a priority.
- Public schools received no additional state aid in the 2024-2025 school year.
- Our per pupil allocation has been $9608 per student for 2 years.
- Public schools need an increase in state aid to make up for the lack of a cost-of-living increase in 2024-25 and the rising costs in 2025-26.
- School aid needs to be funded with continuing funds – not one-time budget gimmicks.
- Critical funds for school transportation, school meals, and school safety and mental health needs to be part of the school funding package.
Our State Representative is Bryan Posthumus, BryanPosthumus@house.mi.gov Office: 517-373-0830
Almost a billion dollars of the school aid budget goes to fund colleges and universities already. The House Budget plan diverts almost $1.8 million more dollars from the school aid budget to colleges and universities and away from K-12 education. If the House budget is enacted, that would total almost $2.5 billion from school aid to colleges and universities. Colleges and universities are important but not at the expense of K-12 education.
The House budget also combines many categories of funds into a one-time allocation of an additional $1975 per student. While appreciated it does not give districts the ability to plan for the 2026-2027 school year and beyond. While it looks good on paper it does nothing to bring financial stability in the long-term to districts.
Our State Senator for Rockford and Plainfield Township is Mark HuizengaSenMHuizenga@senate.michigan.gov Office: 517-373-0797 and for Algoma, Cannon, Courtland, Grattan, and Oakfield Townships is Rick Outman SenROutman@senate.michigan.gov Office: 517-373-3760.
A simple email or call to their office from you highlighting these key points would be helpful.
This email, while longer than it should have been, is meant to reassure you and call you to action.
Steve
Dr. Steve Matthews, Superintendent
Rockford Public Schools
