Lake Orion Schools Announces Cuts for Next School Year

Lake Orion Community Schools continues to look at ways to cut costs as the school district faces rising expenses and reduced funding from the state.

The Board of Education passed on June 22 a budget with a net loss of $4.6 million for the 2011-2012 school year that included $3.1 million in cuts and $1.5 million from the district’s fund balance.

The cuts weren’t as deep as the district originally thought they would be when
Governor Rick Snyder announced his budget earlier this year, Superintendent Marion Ginopolis said. But they were still sizable for a district that has made $16 million in cuts in the last 10 years.

“We’re diligently looking at ways to reduce expenses,” she said in an interview with Patch. “There is no question about it. Everybody has to tighten their belt.”

One of the main conditions the Board of Education set for this year’s budget was not to cut into programs. Most of the cuts came at the expense of staff, which will have a limited impact on students. Some of the personnel cut included administrative, custodial, family coordinators, campus monitor, teachers, secretarial, a police liaison and staff associates.

Other attempts to reduce costs included reducing custodial costs, technology supplies and maintenance accounts, athletic supervision costs and building budgets.

Ginopolis, who started at the district in November, will continue to explore ways to save money. For instance, the school system shares a director of operations with Clarkston Schools. In addition, the bargaining units in the district agreed to increase their contributions to health care costs.

“There is nothing else we can cut without cutting deeply into programs,” she said. “We have really cut as deeply as we possibly could without going into programs. We’re as tight as we could possibly be.”

For more information on the budget, go to Ginopolis’ blog at http://lakeorionschools.blogspot.com/.