LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Michigan has a record number of school districts running budget deficits, according to a list made public Thursday by the state Department of Education.
As we hear from Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta, the 55 districts in deficit are in urban, suburban, and rural parts of the state.
State Superintendent Mike Flanagan says declining enrollment is the most-common issue in the deficit districts. That’s led to a loss of state funding.
Flanagan says schools do need more resources, but most are keeping their budgets balanced. The ones that don’t, he says, are a rarity.
“Sometimes I think there’s boards, to be blunt, that don’t want to make the tough decisions," he says, "and so they have assumptions in their budgets that just aren’t reasonable.”
Flanagan says that’s just one of the problems that forced the Buena Vista schools to briefly shut down last month.
For the Michigan Public Radio Network, I’m Rick Pluta at the state Capitol