MI school shut down - can't make payroll

[longtallcold]

This is huge problem and one I hope gets national attention so the problem is not repeated! The kids are the ones that suffer the most.

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2013/05/no_school_buena_vista_leaders.html

In financial distress and unable to pay its employees, the Buena Vista School District is closed Tuesday, May 7, a letter on the district website states.

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/i...essman_dan_kildee_says_bu.html#incart_m-rpt-2

The state of Michigan and school district administrators need to work together to find an amenable solution to pay teachers and school staff. This matter needs to be resolved immediately so students in Buena Vista can return to school tomorrow,” Kildee said

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/i...istrict_closing_put.html#incart_river_default

Buena Vista Education Association President Joe Ann Nash told the Huffington Post that teachers in the district have known about the need to consolidate for two years.

“It's a tough decision, but it should have been made long before now. We've been cut to the bone,” Nash said.

 

[Pandora]

I read about this district earlier, but all the teachers had agreed to remain on the job, unpaid, until the end of the year. They put the students first--above their own families--to keep those kids on-track and eliminate the possibility of all of them "losing a year" (being forced to repeat it since they didn't finish). When I searched to find out what happened, I learned that there is a law in Michigan preventing people from working w/o pay. ??? I'm a little bit lost here--isn't volunteering always working w/o pay? I'm a teacher here in PA and we had a similar issue in a district last year. The teachers worked w/o pay and the union issued low-interest loans to keep the teachers in their homes & food on the table, while many of us donated cash. We all know we might be next. . . .My district is facing a loss of another $700,000 next year. We've been cutting teachers and programs for three years w/ funding losses every year. Soon there will be nothing left to cut.

Buena Vista's page has some info:
http://www.bvsd.k12.mi.us/education/district/district.php?sectionid=1

 

[michmi]

You cannot have people perform work that is unpaid that they did previously for pay. Meaning, if a teacher was paid for teaching one week, then you cannot have "volunteer" teachers the next. It's also actually violation of federal labor laws also.

This district's problem is of their own making. They took money they knew they weren't entitled to and it was taken back by the state, that's all.

Their declining enrollment didn't happen overnight, so their excuse that they didn't get "small enough fast enough" is stupid. According to one of the articles, they knew they needed to consolidate for 2 years now.

 

[Pandora]

Update from teachers' point of view:
http://educationvotes.nea.org/2013/...rict-shuts-school-doors-to-students-teachers/