RESOURCES:
Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Proposal
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU. I'm Caroline MacGregor, and my guest today is Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent, Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross. Thank you for joining us today!
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Thanks for having me! It's so good to be on!
Caroline MacGregor: Dr. Ross, the obvious big issue right now is the education budget. It still has not been passed in Lansing. And this is creating a lot of uncertainty for schools like Ypsilanti Community Schools. What are your thoughts right now on how Ypsilanti Public Schools could be affected, given the House did pass a budget, but Democrats disagree with items in that budget. And there's potential for a lot of reduction of programs.
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Yeah, it's really important that this budget be passed. We do a lot of projections, yet we really need to know what the budget is, so that we can provide that certainty to our families, to our community, and to our educators. We have a collective bargaining agreement that we have already begun paying our wonderful educators. And we hope that our students come in, and that's usually the unexpected thing. The expected thing that we know for certain is the budget. And our board of education does a wonderful job working with our finance team to look at our collective bargaining agreements, and they work with the community who entrusts our board to make the financial decisions to be responsible to manage that budget. Usually, the solid thing that we count on is the state aid. We know what it is, and the uncertainty is how many students. But right now with both of those things being uncertain, it causes our board, it causes the community, our educators, that uncertainty that, right now, that's not something that we need. We need to be the stable force in the community.
Caroline MacGregor: I'm sure that teachers and parents alike, they're all very concerned about what's going on. Will this affect free meals for students?
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Well, the free meals, for us, that's one of the things that is certain. We are a community eligibility provision district. So, because of our direct certification for free and reduced lunch meals, we will be providing free breakfast, free lunch all year. And that is a certainty. What's uncertain is, just like you said, with the House budget being passed, they've stated an amount that isn't increased, but they've rolled up 31A funds, the ELL funds that were categoricals in the past. So, those staff members, like you said, that are impacted by that, they're wondering, will districts decide to make cuts? Will they decide to keep certain programs? And that's tied to roles and positions. And right now, Ypsilanti Community Schools, we plan on keeping those positions, but we don't know what that budget means. And that's the uncertainty. We don't know the implications.
Caroline MacGregor: Do you think that, in light of funding cuts at the federal and state level, obviously, we have to see what happens with the education budget, are you foreseeing any problems with any staff cuts or issues with, for example, bus transportation, things like that?
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: You know, in the past, there were some transportation grants. I'm just hoping that our legislators are hearing from their constituents. We've been reaching out through our state agencies, the Michigan's Alliance, the superintendent's associations, our teacher unions. And so, we've been fighting strong that if they're rolling up dollars that they're considering those needs, especially in Michigan, where we don't have the strong mass transportation that they know is needed, that food and security is needed, that we have funding for mental health and for additional at-risk support and for tutoring, those types of things. That for Michigan to continue to improve in the list of the top to top 10, we've got to do some things differently, and it requires funding.
Caroline MacGregor: And currently, Michigan is behind many other states for reading and math. How is Ypsilanti Schools doing in this area right now?
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: We've been improving, and that's because of additional funds. If we see any decreases, that's just going to leave our scholars behind.
Caroline MacGregor: I heard that Ypsilanti Community Schools is going to have to reallocate certain state funds to keep three positions previously funded by the mental health and safety grants.
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Yeah. We had to do that last year, and for that, we used, again, some at-risk funding. And so, that's one of those pieces that is being reconsidered right now. So, we're waiting anxiously, as we see that House budget being recommended, some of those categorical funds being rolled up, we don't know what that means. And it's important that we understand it clearly, so that we can articulate it to our staff. People when they see those budgets, they don't want to just see one big line item. They want to know where do I fit in? Right now, I couldn't answer that. And so, it's important for me as the superintendent for our school board, that we have that fleshed out, and it really needs to happen soon. We're past the deadline. We have to continue to pay people as they're serving our scholars. In addition, if you think about it, we partner a lot. Ypsilanti Community Schools is very fortunate to have a lot of community partners that we work hand-in-hand with. And sometimes, we pay for additional services, but we can't make additional contracts right now until we know what additional funds we have to first pay our own staff and then to pay for additional services. I can't make those promises and decisions until I have a budget in my hand.
Caroline MacGregor: If you're just joining us, I'm talking with Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross, Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent, about the budget impasse at the state level and the impact on educators as they wait for critical funding needed for many programs. What would your message be to state legislators who are basically causing all of this uncertainty?
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: You know, I would just urge them to really take this seriously. Our scholars are in school. Our educators are there alongside them. There's no more time to wait and to debate amongst each other. We need to prepare our scholars for a global society. They're already seeing that Michigan has been approached by so many because of our Great Lakes. We've got to know what that budget is right now. And it's for all schools in Michigan, not just Ypsilanti.
Caroline MacGregor: It was stated that if no agreement is reached by October 1st, the state government basically shuts down. You know, that's not going to help anybody. It just seems like such a difficult position again for schools to be put in.
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: It really is, and we know, in Michigan, conditions get worse as the year goes on. We know our weather changes. We can't wait to get into the first quarter of the year. So, a lot of people think about it when the students come in, that that's when our school year starts. The school year began July 1st. Our budget is crucial to making decisions. Our school board was required to have a budget in place and decided on by June 30th. They ought to do what we're required to do. And so, we're asking them to make some decisions on behalf of the students in the state of Michigan.
Caroline MacGregor: How would possible cuts affect students with disabilities and English language learners?
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Yes. These students with disabilities and our English language learners, our multilingual learners, could be impacted tremendously because the services that they receive are impacted by both IDEA money, which is state and federal money, and Medicaid dollars. For Washtenaw County specifically, we are fortunate to have a millage, but not across the whole state. And we know that they're not fully funded anyway. We know that the services are driven by the IEP, but we want to just give them even more. As you mentioned, transportation, assistive technology, the personnel through pair pros and OT and PT services and speech and language is already a shortage of staff in these areas. And districts will find themselves, especially if they're outside of Washtenaw County, to struggle even more to service these most vulnerable students. That's just a terrible thing. But then, our multilingual students, our EL population, there's not these millages.
Caroline MacGregor: Right.
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: So, if we lose Title III and Title IV funds, what are we to do to provide them? You know, we have the newcomer centers that require more staff. We have students with so many languages who need these translation pieces. We have the students and the parent services, and we don't need students, parents, community members or our educators to feel divided. We see a more diverse community, and in order for Michigan to increase its achievement, those two populations need funding, so that all of our schools can continue to grow in academic achievement.
Caroline MacGregor: Were there any new programs planned for this year prior to all this concern?
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Yes, we still have new programs, and we continued with them. We opened up Puentes Multilingual School as a K-4 building, and it will grow to a K-8. It's a dual language immersion school. We have a drone aviation program at the high school and a botany program where our scholars will be really focusing on cell biology. We have an orchard that we planted last year. It's a Michigan-certified CTE program. We have to have funding for it, yet we're going full steam ahead, and our scholars and educators are excited about these two new programs.
Caroline MacGregor: So, good things to look forward to, in spite of what's going on at the state and federal level. That's good news!
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Yes!
Caroline MacGregor: Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross, Superintendent of Ypsilanti Community Schools, thank you so much for joining me today!
Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross: Thank you for having me!
Caroline MacGregor: You've been listening to 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti.
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