Saginaw school board members will vote tomorrow afternoon on a deficit elimination plan.
The plan calls for closing two elementary schools, turning the city's two high schools into seventh through twelfth grade schools and laying off dozens of employees.
The board has been struggling for the past two weeks to come up with a plan to eliminate the district’s $6.1 million deficit. State Education officials are threatening to withhold the district’s March state aid payment unless the district delivers a workable plan by Tuesday.
The board met five times during the past two weeks. During the meetings, students, parents and teachers asked district officials not to close Saginaw High School. The high school was one of three schools slated to be closed in the original plan.
Carlton Jenkins is Saginaw’s school district superintendent. He says the plan will set a path to get out of the deficit.
“Right at the table there may be some tweaks,” says Jenkins, “But not major tweaks because everything has to be costed out as well.”
District officials agree that the ultimate solution to Saginaw’s money problems is to reverse a long decline in student enrollment.
