Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Students and staff involved in Advanced Placement testing must report to testing sites.
With one-quarter of the districts bus drivers calling in sick Wednesday, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools cancelled classes. WWJ-AM reports that the move is "an apparent protest" over the district's decision to outsource busing. A notice on the district's website indicated that students and staff involved in Advanced Placement testing are still required to report to their testing sites, because those tests cannot be made up. District spokesperson Judy Evola told WWJ the district will be "strategizing today. If this does occur again, we will have a plan in place that we will communicate with our parents,” district spokesperson Judy Evola told WWJ. The district made the decision to outsource busing because it couldn't reach an agreement …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Officials hear on Tuesday that they may be looking at an $11 million deficit in the 2013-2014 budget.
While this year's Farmington Public Schools budget got a $3 million shot in the arm this year, officials will likely face another double digit structural deficit in 2013-2014. Associate Superintendent of Operational Services David Ruhland told board members Tuesday that amended budget numbers reflect the district's position as of Dec. 1, 2012. Changes result from adjustments made to the district's student count, federal funds, state funds and retirement costs. Ruhland said the loss of 27 more students than anticipated cost the district $171,000, but lower than anticipated retirement costs, grant spending, the impact of employee cost-sharing for benefits and other factors resulted in more than $3 million less in expenditures. This year's…
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Two board members raise questions over proposals submitted by firms serving the district.
With a 4-2 vote Tuesday, Farmington Schools board members approved fee increases ranging from 2-10 percent for two of the seven legal firms that serve the district. Board member Karen Bolsen abstained from the vote, saying her husband is a partner in one of the law firms, although he does not do work for the district. At the board's last meeting, secretary George Gurrola asked to see justification for the requested increases, which he feels are inappropriate given the district's current financial challenges. Officials in June approved a budget for the coming year that uses more than $11 million of the district's fund balance to offset declining revenues and increased expenses. "I know our attorneys are excellent … they all deserve a raise…
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Flat revenues and rising costs will likely mean more red ink in 2012-13.
Although she stressed that the numbers were very preliminary, Farmington Public Schools Executive Director of Business Mary Reynolds delivered grim news Tuesday about the district's 2012-13 budget. Anticipating flat state revenues, skyrocketing retirement costs and the loss of one-time state funding that helped offset those costs, Reynolds predicts a $13.5 million budget shortfall next year. And this comes, she said, even after the closing of four schools, painful concessions from district staff and proactive efforts to reduce districtwide energy costs. "This is the first blush of where we think things will be," Reynolds told officials during a 7:30 p.m. study session at the Schulman Administrative Center. "The numbers are a tool at this…
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Thursday, July 21, 2011
Mary Reynolds shares a year-end report on the Farmington Schools budget with board members Tuesday.
Farmington Public Schools Executive Director of Business Mary Reynolds said the district had one heck of a year, with lots of changes and a little anxiety. She presented the district’s year-end report on the budget at the Board of Education's July 19 meeting. Of the three areas included in the report – the budget, facilities, and health and wellness – the district’s facilities saw the most change and required the most effort, she said. Near the end of last school year, the district announced that four elementary schools would close. This year, the district faced the daunting task of reusing and recycling as much material as it could from those buildings. To meet that end, everything from shelving and closets, to heating and cooling …
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Farmington Public Schools Lewis Schulman Administrative Center
32500 Shiawassee Rd, Farmington, MI
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Rep. Chuck Moss (R-Birmingham) participated in the bill-signing ceremony.
State Rep. Chuck Moss (R-Birmingham) was alongside Gov. Rick Snyder as he signed the 2011-12 budget into law Tuesday afternoon. The $47.4 billion budget resolves a $1.5 billion shortfall with various cuts to education and government services. Moss, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has said the cuts were necessary to revitalize Michigan's economy. “Cuts are hard because it affects someone, somewhere,” said Moss. “But we’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a dynamic economy (in Michigan)." The bill came to Snyder after months of negotiations. Snyder had set a May 31 deadline for lawmakers, who did submit the final budget before Memorial Day. This is the first time three decades the budget has been completed this early.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A large crowd is waiting to protest the proposed sale of an elementary school to the Islamic Cultural Center.
Editor's Note: This story has been edited to correct typographical errors, and enhanced with information from notes about discussion that continued after the reporter's computer battery died. We're underway with tonight's Farmington School Board meeting in the Schulman Administrative Center in Farmington, and a crowd is building outside. Many are apparently here to protest the sale of Eagle Elementary School, which was closed last year, to the Islamic Cultural Center in Franklin. Officials first presented the sale on a public agenda May 24, but the offer was made in January. Those not here for student recognitions at the start of the meeting were asked to wait outside. Check back with us throughout the evening for what promises to be a …
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Farmington Public Schools Lewis Schulman Administrative Center
32500 Shiawassee Rd, Farmington, MI
/articles/live-blog-farmington-school-board-considers-sale-of-eagle
706531
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Friday, May 13, 2011
Education funding activists, including those from Royal Oak, aim message at lawmakers in Lansing, including Gov. Rick Snyder.
Lansing has seen bigger and perhaps more enthusiastic rallies than Thursday's gathering to support education funding. The activists were undaunted by crowd size. All they cared about was making Michigan's lawmakers hear words like those spoken from the Capitol building's steps by Chris Greig, Farmington Area PTA president. "We have the money. We have a surplus in the K-12 school aid fund," said Greig, who attended the rally with a group from the Farmington Area PTA. "We've collected $455 million more than what we originally thought, already this year. We are projecting an additional $500 million to be reported by the House Fiscal Agency on Monday. We have the money for K-12 education. We must, we must invest in our future today." Greig …
beth
12:51 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
I'm with you Chad! Because of the boards decision to close school last week, parents were forced to find day care for their kids or give up a days wages, and NOW the kids have to go an extra day in June. Seems to me like if calling us at 5:50a.m. is enough time to find day care, it should have been enough time to let us know we would be responsible for getting our kids to school IF the bus didn't… more ›