Publication select ▼EASTPOINTE — As school districts statewide prepare for the 2025-2026 school year, they’ve been thrown into financial uncertainty because the state Legislature has not passed the state budget, which includes the school aid budget.
The deadline to pass the budget was July 1, but the House and Senate have yet to reach an agreement on the 2025-2026 fiscal year. This has been a roadblock for school officials who had to pass their budgets by June 30 and did so without a concrete budget from the state.
At the July 28 Eastpointe Community Schools Board of Education meeting, the school board voted 7-0 on a resolution urging state lawmakers to take immediate action and “pass a School Aid Budget that equitably supports the needs of all Michigan students.”
The document is titled “Resolution on Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Michigan School Aid Fund Budget Delays” and states, “The Fiscal Year 2025-2026 School Aid Fund Budget continues to be delayed by political battles that are unrelated to school funding or the needs of our students.”
According to Eastpointe officials, the holdup has left school districts without funding information as they plan for the new school year. School officials are making financial decisions without knowing how much support will come from the state.
During last Monday’s meeting, school board President Chineva Early turned the matter over to Trustee Ian McCain.
“I spent a number of hours reading through information from different news sources and from our affiliate and advocacy organization, the Michigan Association of School Boards. We received a template proposal through the Michigan K-12 Alliance,” McCain said. “This is based off of their template proposal with some things baked in that are a little bit more Eastpointe specific.”
McCain then read the entire resolution.
On July 29, ECS Communications and Marketing Coordinator Caitlyn Kienitz issued a press release that states the board’s resolution calls on the Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “to pass a budget that fully and fairly allocates all funding meant for public schools.”
The district’s resolution states that school aid fund dollars should not be used to fill budget gaps, be tied to or used to fund unrelated budget items such as road construction and maintenance, fund higher education or private education, or increase “onerous” reporting requirements for already struggling school districts.
The ECS Board Of Education said in the resolution that it believes a responsible school aid fund budget should provide a reasonable increase in the per-pupil foundation allowance, wrap-around special service funding including mental health support for high needs students, and fund safe, reliable student transportation.
The resolution also states that the school aid budget should allocate funding to certain non-education purposes, such as school infrastructure funding to support districts with older buildings and safety concerns. Funding also should be allotted for Michigan’s at-risk youth, English language learners, students in special education, intermediate school districts and regional educational service agencies, Great Start Readiness programs, school libraries, rural communities, career and technical education programs, and additional academic programs, according to the resolution.
