LANSING, MI (WTVB) – As public school districts across Michigan counted students on Wednesday, lawmakers in Lansing are considering ways to change how state K-12 educational funds are distributed. It won’t be until next week at the earliest before schools in Branch County provide their preliminary reports on fall enrollment numbers. Currently, the student count on the first Wednesday of October accounts for 90 percent of per-pupil funding, with the remaining 10 percent coming from a similar census on the first Wednesday in February.
Some administrators are asking for that to be reversed for budgetary planning reasons, while others say if that change is made, it would penalize growing districts. Two bills that would alter the funding formula are in the state House.
