Schools Wrestle Cuts: Manton

After years of funding cuts, and no end in sight, schools all over are facing similar problems. They have to keep recruiting students because that's the key to increasing revenue. But they also have to balance the books. 

Everyone in the public schools seems to think they're already running as lean as they can. So where to cut again for next school year?

Over the next few days, we visit three Northern Michigan school districts. They may have similar problems, but solutions have looked very different. Our first stop is a little north of Cadillac in Manton, a small, rural district that already hit crisis a couple years ago.

Final Bell

By the end of the school day, Manton High School English Teacher Holly Franklin is beat. In most districts, teachers have maybe an hour prep period somewhere in the middle of the day to prepare lessons, and grade papers. But not in Manton. Here high school teachers teach in 90-minute blocks all day long, with just 20 minutes for lunch.

"It's exhausting but we knew that's what we had to do and what's best for the kids, so that's what we did," Franklin says. "And everyone knows that's what's got to be done this year. So, we're all continuing to do it and pluck away. But, yeah, it's exhausting. By the end of the day you're like, yeah, okay, break!"

A couple years ago, Manton's schools were in the red, and the state stepped in. Teachers here had a contract with guaranteed salary increases, and a prep period during the day. But to help the school out, they agreed to open that contract and negotiated a one-year pay freeze. High School teachers also agreed to this new, rigorous schedule. It means the school can still fit in all the state's new graduation requirements - and do it with fewer teachers.

"We have 16 teachers in the high school. That's the least amount of teachers we've ever had, but the most amount of students," Franklin says. "In order to get all those kids the classes they need, and to make sure they're successful here, we had to do something. So we all took our prep in the morning and now we all teach all day."

Back to the well

With the teachers' help, the school is back to black. But with fiscal crisis in Lansing, there were cuts again at the beginning of this school year, and more mid-year. Rather than mid-year lay-offs, Manton's been spending down its modest savings once again.

More cuts are likely to come down from Lansing next year. It's anyone's guess how much, but for now, leaders here think they might have to shave off another $400,000. That's more than double the school's entire athletic budget.

High School Principal Len Morrow says, like every other school district, the vast majority of Manton's budget is teacher wages and benefits.

"And so, again you go to the well, and you ask them to maybe to do this. And it's hard because they have given so much to our community and our kids. And so, year after year, something's got to give. You hope that the financial situation with the State of Michigan changes rather rapidly here, and we are able to do some things for these people who mean so much for our school district," he says.

The contract is up. Teachers will have to negotiate this year.

A conundrum

Morrow says the school is scrutinizing every line item, with every option on the table. In recent years Manton has cut down on administration, and bus routes. The district's even thought about eliminating morning bus routes all together, which could be tough on a largely-poor, spread-out student body.

And then there are those special programs and classes schools tend to provide, but that the state doesn't require. These are classes such as art, and music... already the drama program is gone. And there's athletics.  But cutting down on these types of programs can force a conundrum for school districts.

The state pays schools according to the number of students they teach, and several members of the wrestling team, for example, say they're proud Rangers but they'd consider leaving Manton Schools for another district, if they couldn't wrestle here.

Senior Athlete Stacey Barron says, without sports, school itself is simply less appealing.

"I think a lot of kids wouldn't even be in school right now if it wasn't for sports in Manton," says Barron. "That's my opinion. Like mainly, like, I'd assume like football and a lot of its track too, and maybe a little bit of wrestling, but, those sports, kids need those sports to stay in school. That's what's holding them on, I guess, in my opinion. I wouldn't have any fun in school if it wasn't for sports."

Principal Morrow agrees cutting athletics can force more problems: "If we cut athletics, how many kids walk out that door? If you have 13 walk out the door, that's 13 times $7,000, you know, $91,000 that you have to additionally cut on top of eliminating your athletic program. So it really doesn't make good financial sense to eliminate athletics if you're going to have students leave."

Morrow says the same logic applies with so-called pay-to-play options. That's been brought up lately is many districts. In Manton, seven-out-of-ten students come from poor families. So, in most homes, pay-to-play would be a big financial burden. It just doesn't make sense to try that here, he says. More likely the school could make players find their own rides to matches.

Nothing left to trim

But Morrow says every option has at least been talked about because the district has yet to figure out where there's fat to be trimmed.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a look at every line in your budget and trying to squeeze out every penny and making sure that there's a reason for spending the money in the way that you do," he says. "And it's not taking place just in Manton, or in Mesick, or in Lake City. It's taking place statewide. But now they've squeezed the oranges dry, you can't get any more OJ out."

It's a mantra from schools all over Northern Michigan lately. Because schools in the state compete for state dollars by competing with one another for pupils, leaders have often preferred to put a positive spin on school finances. But lately, leaders have been saying outright that their districts are hurting as cuts from Lansing go deeper and deeper.

Morrow was once a Manton student himself. He says it sad to see students today simply don't have some of the opportunities he once had.

"There's no end in sight. You know, we're trying to be as optimistic as we can around here. It's been looking kind of dreary for a while now," he says. "And we're still standing, we plan on still standing. We're going to hold our heads up high and we are proud that we are Manton and we are proud of what we do here. And we're proud of our kids, and we're proud of our community."