A faculty member arrives for the first day of class at Buena
Vista High School Monday morning, May 20, 2013 after the school
district was shut down for two weeks due to budgetary problems.
(Jeff Schrier | MLive.com)
BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP, MI — Buena Vista School District officials have fewer than five hours to find a private loan to keep the struggling district afloat.
Superintendent Deborah Hunter-Harvill said she’s contacted five banks about a loan, and three have sent messages in writing to decline.
“As the deadline looms, I’m staying upbeat and positive,” she said. “So far, I don’t have anything.”
On Thursday, July 17, State Superintendent Mike Flanagan and State Treasurer Andy Dillon gave Buena Vista and Inkster schools two days — until 5 p.m. Monday — to secure a private loan or face dissolution. Inkster officials already had started the process, and state officials gave Buena Vista the same option.
Buena Vista Board of Education President Randy L. Jackson last week called the deadline unreasonable but said district officials would fight to get the necessary funding.
If
Buena Vista leaders are unable to find a loan, a lead on loan or viable
operation plan for the fall, the Saginaw Intermediate School District
will dissolve the district and redraw boundaries with neighboring districts. If the intermediate district failed to act, Flanagan and Dillon would step in.
Flanagan and Dillon said Buena Vista meets all six requirements for dissolution under a new state law.
Buena Vista School District ran out of money to make payroll
after the Michigan Department of Education stopped state funding to
recoup money overpaid to educate students not served by the district.
As a result, Buena Vista closed for two weeks in May. The district's deficit elimination plan, submitted to the state, was accepted on the third try. That allowed the state to release up to $460,000 in state aid, and classes resumed. The last day of school was June 26.
The district has a $3.7 million budget deficit, a $2 million loan due to the state treasury in 2014 and less than $2,000 in the bank.
As a result, Buena Vista closed for two weeks in May. The district's deficit elimination plan, submitted to the state, was accepted on the third try. That allowed the state to release up to $460,000 in state aid, and classes resumed. The last day of school was June 26.
The district has a $3.7 million budget deficit, a $2 million loan due to the state treasury in 2014 and less than $2,000 in the bank.
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