Pennfield Administration

Letter from the Superintendent:

Dear Community Members,

In October, our State Legislature passed the School Aid Act which cut funding to public schools by $165 per student.  Since that time the Governor added an additional pro-rated cut of $127.  Together these cuts equal $292 per student.  The impact of these cuts to the Pennfield Schools is approximately $600,000 for the 2009-2010 school year.  We are also facing the reality that these are probably not the only cuts that will be forced upon public schools this year.  Estimates run as high as $400 per student or a total of $822,000 in cuts for Pennfield Schools. 

Information coming from the Michigan Association of School Boards, The House Fiscal Agency and the Governor’s office indicates that without a substantial and immediate improvement in the economy in the State of Michigan, schools will be facing a minimum of a $400-$600 per student cut for the next school year, 2010-2011.  This means that the Pennfield Schools are facing cuts in revenue between $822,000 and $1,235,000 next year on top of the loss of revenue for the current year.

Pennfield Schools cannot absorb these cuts and remain the Pennfield Schools you have come to expect or our students deserve.  I have created a Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) made up of community members, support staff members, teachers, administrators and the Presidents of the local unions as well as the booster clubs, and a School Board Member; 23 people in total.  This group has solicited input from all segments of the school community for ideas to save money and cut costs.  Once this committee has completed its work, a series of public meetings will be held to gather additional input from parents, students, and community members. 

We need your help!  We need you to contact your State Senator Mike Nofs at 517-373-2426 or at SenMNofs@senate.michigan.gov and your Representative member Jase Bolger at 517-373-1787 or at JamesBolger@house.mi.gov and tell them to fix the problem with school funding.  Ask them to use the federal stimulus dollars to stop further reductions for this year.  Demand that they enact legislation that will provide stable, adequate and equitable funding for schools.  Tell them to enact legislation that will help contain costs and that will be a long term solution to the school funding problem that we are faced with.  The legislators are the only ones who can fix the structural problem with school funding, it is their job.  Tell them to do their jobs!

Your children, our students deserve the best education we can give them.  We need your help to make this happen.

Respectfully,

Bently J. Laser
Superintendent 

Central Office Staff:

Building Administration