WOLVERINE -- A Cheboygan County community is preparing for a major budget issue due to state cutbacks.
Wolverine Community School leaders are bracing for more than $660,000 in possible cuts. As the district waits for word from Governor Snyder on funding plans, 9 of its 25 teachers were given pink slips.
"At this point we don't know what the governor is handing down for us," explained Sue Denise, Superintendent of Wolverine Schools. "He is supposed to give schools a better idea at the end of April . We are obligated by teachers contracts to pink slip before the end of the school year. If we didn't do this we couldn't make any cuts. It's preventative at this point and provides us with some cushion if those cuts do come about."
Wolverine Community Schools may lose two funding sources from the state. One cutback is the per-pupil funding which would leave a hole of about $158,000. A second possible funding loss is a "small class size grant". Wolverine Community Schools has received the grant totaling more than $438,000 for the past ten years.
The grant, which is given to just 29 schools in the state, allows the Wolverine Community schools to keep class sizes between 15 and 28 students, which Denise says is important for the rural community.
"We are fortunate to have had this grant for more than ten years. 75-percent of are students are on the reduced and free lunch program. We are in a high poverty area, so to be able to give that extra attention to students is very important," said Denise.
Governor Snyder plans to let schools know more information about possible funding cuts by the end of April. The Wolverine community is paying close attention, and preparing to be hit twice as hard.
