By Ben Zank
staff writer

At the Feb. 28 School Board meeting held at the MPS Administration center, the main topic was how to deal with the new cuts to education proposed by Governor Rick Snyder.

The proposed budget would cut MPS per pupil funding by $470, which would lower the funding per pupil that MPS currently has from $8617 per pupil to $8157 per pupil.  The proposal would also essentially force MPS to pay more cash to the state retirement fund. This could possibly leave the school district $13.2 million short in their budget over the next two years. This means that the Board has to begin to prepare to make more tough decisions.

The good news, however, is that this is the worst case scenario. It is still very early in the Budget Proposal process, and the cuts could be lessened when Snyder releases his education reform plan this April.  Board Vice President Gerald Wasserman was very optimistic about the situation.

“It’s important to look to the future and have a positive outlook,” Wasserman said.

He also added that he is confident that the Midland Community should be able to rise to the challenge of these cuts.

Elsewhere, the Board offered congratulations to the Dow High swim team for winning their 9th consecutive SVL title as well as all DHS students and staff involved in Renfair.