Saline Area Schools not projecting a budget deficit for the 1st time in 4 years
The Saline Area Schools will not have to make draconian cuts to balance its budget for the 2013-14 academic year, unlike many districts in Washtenaw County.
And for the first time in four years, Saline will be able to put a little money — an estimated $205,000 — back into its savings, according to a report by the Saline Post.
The Post says Saline has run a deficit eight times in the last 12 years, including in each of the previous four years.
School officials said in the Post that a significant factor in the district's healthy budget situation for fall is the housing market boost and more families moving to Saline, which has caused the district's enrollment to be better than projected.
The situation this budget cycle is drastically different than last spring, when Saline schools asked for compensation concessions from its three collective bargaining units and contemplated privatizing the district's support staff.
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
commoncents
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 6:03 p.m.
Admin costs for Saline are significantly lower than AAPS.
jns131
Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 1:27 a.m.
And they are hiring bus drivers and other staff.
DD
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 3:43 p.m.
@Topher - The Foundation for Saline Area Schools raised $75,000 in donations to bring Spanish into the elementary buildings next year. They do also fund mini grants for teachers but I don't have that total handy. I believe it is on their website www.supportfsas.org.
mmouradian
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 11:45 a.m.
40 kids in the high school classes
Bubba43
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 11:23 a.m.
There are no pools in the middle schools, only the High school.
jns131
Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 1:26 a.m.
Tappan, Forsyth and Slauson all have pools that are used for PE. Closing them will not kill anybody but it will at the high school level which won't happen. Privatize Balas. Save jobs.
ThinkingOne
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 5:44 p.m.
There is only one middle school. But you are correct it does not have a pool. There is a community millage in Saline for 'recreation, education, and seniors' that supports several things. Not that the millage funds everything 100% but some money goes to the senior center and some to the pool, among others local organizations. I believe the amount has gone down over the years though.
AMOC
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 9:30 p.m.
So what do we need to do? Build or renovate family-friendly, family-priced housing in the Ann Arbor school district. Or control school spending better by asking for permanent changes to base pay rather than for just 1 year and real freezes, not just freezing the step tables.
Topher
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 1:55 a.m.
What I find perplexing is that Saline pays much better than Ann Arbor and has (or at least had) a better benefits package. I'd be curious to know why this is. I'd also like to know how much Saline pays in (in millage) and how much they get back compared to Ann Arbor. In addition, I'd love to know how much money Saline gets in private donations compared to Ann Arbor.
Top Cat
Thu, May 30, 2013 : 8:01 p.m.
Why is it that so many schools that are supposed to be teaching math are run by people who can't do math?
ThinkingOne
Fri, May 31, 2013 : 5:35 p.m.
HUH? Your point is extremely unclear. Are you implying that the fact that their enrollment estimates were off a little is some kind of math failure?