Farmington Schools Budget Plan Cuts Teaching Positions

Farmington school board members reviewed a budget plan Tuesday that would eliminate 50 staff positions. 

The total includes 36.8 full-time equivalent teaching posts. 

The district faces a $7 million budget deficit as a result of declining enrollments, property values and state funding. The list eliminates a variety of positions, including a technology teacher post at Highmeadow Common Campus, elimination of some high school electives with small class sizes, elementary media, specials and para-pro positions and 14 K-6 classroom positions. 

Executive director of business services Mary Reynolds said some of the staffing cuts are categorized as "right sizing" based in part on declining student enrollment. 

Resident Sue Burstein-Kahn asked about numbers provided to Crain's Detroit business magazine that showed increased staffing from 2012 to 2013. Supt. Susan Zurvalec said the district added staff to eliminate split classes at the elementary level; however, the district's drop in enrollment over the past year was greater than expected.

Sixteen of the teaching positions on the reduction list are tied directly to lower enrollment, she said. 

Along with staffing cuts, the budget plan includes dozens of cost reductions, from more than $135,000 in facilities planning consultant fees to the $27,000 in costs associated with fertilizing grass. It also factors in help from the newly formed Farmington/Farmington Hills Education Foundation, which provides dollars for some programs previously covered by the general fund. (Read the complete list on the district's website.)

Reynolds said the district's fund balance will dip to 7.4 percent, which is below a policy target of 8 to 11 percent. She said variances in audit numbers that are generally around 2 percent can be used to bump that number to an acceptable level. 

However, Reynolds is also preparing for a time when the district may need to turn to short-term borrowing to meet its cash flow needs. 

Business office director Jennifer Kaminski said current projections show the district will have a negative fund balance of $28 million by the 2016-2017 school year. 

Officials will consider approving the budget plan on June 25; they must pass a balanced budget by June 30. 

Correction: The Farmington/Farmington Hills Education Foundation was incorrectly identified in the original version of this post. In addition, the number of teaching positions eliminated has been corrected.