bvsd | RESPONSES TO COMMON QUESTIONS
REGARDING THE BUENA VISTA SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET CRISIS
Buena
Vista School District and its community of parents and stakeholders has
a long tradition of pride and excellence. We pride ourselves on the
caring and committed staff with which we are blessed and consider it our
highest calling to be entrusted with the care and education of the
community’s children.
Recent reductions in state school aid,
combined with a severe drop in enrollment have created a situation where
the District has not been able to get small enough fast enough. Adding
to this problem is the fact that the District must return to the state
funds related to the Wolverine Secure Treatment Center which it
continued to receive after the program severed ties with the District in
2012. The District brought its receipt of these funds to the attention
of the State during a meeting with state officials to discuss a draft of
its deficit elimination plan in February. All of this came into focus
when the State did not transmit the District’s April state school aid.
Upon
noting that state school aid was not received in April as planned, the
District made inquiry of the State and was told that state school aid
for April, May and June would be withheld to recoup the funds that were
mistakenly sent to the District. We remain in contact with officials at
the State, the Intermediate School District and our surrounding
districts. We have been told by State officials that a prerequisite to
continuing dialogue is the District’s completion of a satisfactory
deficit elimination plan. We are and have been working diligently to
meet this requirement, and appreciate the technical assistance that
State officials have provided regarding the deficit elimination plan. Fist tap Dale.
