Southeast Michigan School District Gets State Emergency Manager

By Rick Pluta

The Highland Park school district is the latest local government to be taken over by the state for failing to manage its finances.

Governor Rick Snyder has affirmed a finding that there's a fiscal crisis in the district. He named certified public accountant Jack Martin as its emergency manager.

"My message to parents, and I think the governor's message, is that the emergency manager, myself, our primary goal is the health, safety, and education of children in the Highland Park school district," says Martin, who assumes the job Monday.

Martin says his first task will be to determine how quickly Highland Park is losing students, and how that will affect the district's finances in the coming school year.

"We want to get an accurate forecast, as best we can, of what the student population's going to be; try to match the expenditures to what the revenues will be; and we'll make adjustments to expenditures as we feel are necessary to sustain the district and manage the deficit," he says.

The neighboring Detroit school district is also run by an emergency manager, as are the cities of Flint, Pontiac, Ecorse, and Benton Harbor.