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Trenton Public Schools - State School Aid Budget & What It Means? (The Story of Jack & Diane - well not really, I just added a twist to the lyrics) 1. "A little ditty about Jack and Diane" and the 2024.25 School Aid Budget You might recall those lyrics from the 80s when listening to John Mellencamp (or not depending on your age). While I won't take you down memory lane and delve into the meaning of the song, I will provide you a "ditty" about the latest school budget, which some are calling a "historical precedent." Imagine if there were lyrics in the song about Jack lending Diane $20, and she only repaid him $16.42. Despite Jack's best efforts to convince her otherwise, Diane refused to budge. This scenario mirrors the 24/25 School Aid Budget, where educational leaders from a significant number of professional organizations (see the image below) worked tirelessly to persuade legislators to establish a solid budget, return district money, and ensure a strong foundation for the future. Unfortunately, this did not happen. 2. Background. In early June, it became widely known that the public school employee retiree health care system was overfunded by 40%. School leaders from a plethora of professional organizations united (see the image below) to urge lawmakers to return the excess funds to the public schools that paid into the system, not just this year but every year moving forward. Arguably, there has never been such a unified front in opposition to any one issue in public education. This WAS precedent setting. For Trenton, this would have resulted in a “refund” of approximately $1.4 million for the 2024.25 school year. Moreover, this money, along with a small increase in per pupil funding would have put Trenton Public Schools in a position of STRENGTH . Instead, our state legislators played out the role of Diane and returned approximately 82% of the owed money and did NOT provide a per pupil increase in any amount (+/- 0%) . To say that district leaders across the state were disappointed would be a vast understatement. (the organizations in the image above were united in their approach) 3. Table: Key Points/Impact on TPS Pros/Action (blue font) Cons Impact on TPS $57 million in one-time payments to Public School Academies (PSAs)/aka Charter Schools. Charter Schools do not pay into the retirement fund, so this is free money for schools that aren’t held to any accountability measures. This is the first instance where PSAs/CHARTER SCHOOLS will receive a larger per pupil increase than TPS. NA The funding for mental health and school safety was reduced from $328 million to $26.5 million. A net reduction of $302 million dollars. Though TPS students are still struggling and school threats and violence have become more and more common across the state and nation, the budget seems to reflect that this is no longer a high priority area. The current cuts will impact TPS most significantly in 2025-26. $180 million allocated for one-time reimbursements to staff paying into OPEB . Think of Jack and Diane again; not only do districts pay into the retirement system, so do employees. The budget does provide staff a refund that will result in a 3% personal increase for this year only (taxable income). Though this is good news, individual districts will have to figure out how to reallocate this money so that employees realize the financial gain in their biweekly paycheck. The 3% will be classified as taxable income; thus making it less than 3% (the "refund" is only for one year). TPS will spend time and money to determine how this process will work and how qualified staff will be "reimbursed". At this point, there has been no guidance or suggested process for resolution. Funding for special education would increase by $365 million to $2.6 billion - this is GREAT NEWS! Remember that the United States Congress promised to pay 40 percent of the excess costs of special education services when IDEA was first passed 48 years ago, but has never come close. T he federal share is now less than 14 percent. Special Education advocates were pleased with the budget. However, this comes after years of underfunding. Hopefully the tide is now turning and this will continue to be a high priority for our leaders and help support TPS Special Education well into the future. “Free community college” (the Michigan Guarantee) so every high school graduate can earn an associate’s degree or skills certificate from an in-district community college tuition-free, saving more than 18,000 students up to $4,800 a year. This money comes from the State's General Fund. This isn't necessarily a "con", however it does come at the expense of taxpayers. This program will help potential TPS students in the future to advance their career path. $85 million for the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP). In principle, this is a great program. However, for many districts, GSRP is not a staple in their offerings. Thus, the funding will be allocated accordingly and the impact will either be substantial or minimal depending on the size of a district's programming. TPS does not have space available to offer a GSRP program beyond our one classroom at Anderson. However, this funding will help offset costs associated with this program. There was an increase in funding for at-risk students and other categorical programs ($122.6 million). The money will be distributed to districts through the state’s “opportunity index,” a funding formula created last year that gives more money to districts serving communities with higher concentrations of poverty. NA TPS receives funding directly related to our economically disadvantaged population; the impact will be positive, but less impactful than districts with greater at-risk populations. 4. Bottom Line for TPS?! In short, we will be okay for the 2024-25 school year. Thanks to our community, replacing the Hold Harmless Millage with the Sinking Fund will be a significant boost for our future and it will allow us to address safety, technology, and the performing arts as we shared back in May. If we had relied on the Hold Harmless Millage, none of this would be possible. Despite the failure to increase the foundation allowance and only receiving an 82% "refund" of what is owed, we will still see a net gain of approximately $1.1 million for this year due to our "refund" (lawmakers are touting this as a $400 increase to the foundation allowance). Though we are grateful, we were expecting an estimated additional amount of $300,000. Additionally, the substantial cut to mental health and safety funding (31aa) will greatly impact our students starting in 2025-26 (unless an alternative plan is shared). We have used this funding to provide support through our safety consultants, elementary counselor(s), and various social-emotional programs and services. Thanks to responsible fiscal planning, we can sustain these programs for the coming year, but the long-term outlook remains uncertain. 5. What every Michigander should know! For too long, it’s been a one-way street with the School Aid Fund being used to supplement the General Fund. Since 2012, nearly $11 billion in School Aid dollars have been diverted from our local schools to pay for priorities that are not at all related to K-12 education . Currently, about $1.2 billion of School Aid Funds are going to costs that should be paid for by the General Fund – equating to nearly $925 per pupil (source: Michigan Association of School Boards/2024). 6. Conclusion. It’s been 32 years since I began my career in public education. Rarely, if ever, has this kind of information been shared with our community. For far too long, there has been a disconnect between local district challenges and our state government! However, they are one in the same. Ultimately, if we are funded adequately, we can provide for our students. When we aren’t, fiscal challenges overtake our mission to inspire students today for their success tomorrow. And when this happens, there is almost always a divide. For now, it is my hope that this budget was a one year blunder and that next year will be better. You have our pledge that we will continue to provide our students with the best education, experience, and opportunity that we can. Yours in Education, Douglas Mentzer, Superintendent

Trenton Public Schools - State School Aid Budget & W...

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