LANSING — About 50 people have been laid off from the Lansing School District to address a budget deficit, Interim Superintendent Jessica Benavides announced in an email to staff on May 4.
The school district is "facing a large structural deficit" because of the loss of one-time federal funds provided to schools, Benavides wrote in an email obtained by the State Journal. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government provided funds through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER).
Benavides told the State Journal on May 7 that the district's funding concerns were based on overspending the district's fund balance, essentially the district's savings account.
The district's fund balance is around $157 million, or $257 million including grants, Benavides said.
There were three rounds of ESSER funds that districts could apply for, intended to provide financial support for schools to safely reopen following the pandemic, ranging from bringing in support staff to making ventilation upgrades.
The Lansing School District was allocated more than $110 million through the grants, according to a 2023report from the House Fiscal Agency.
MORE:Lansing schools names Benavides superintendent, pending contact deal
MORE:Many Lansing Christian teachers threaten to leave amid controversy
Advertisement
The district brought in additional staff using the money to better serve students, Benavides wrote, but now that the funding has run out, the district is facing a deficit that is also driven by rising operational costs, including utilities.
She wrote the district first worked on reducing non-personnel costs where possible, including eliminating open positions, consolidating programming and halting a solar project, though additional cuts were necessary.
The district is working to return to pre-pandemic staffing levels, she wrote, which led to the more than 50 cuts.
"These decisions were incredibly difficult," Benavides wrote. "We have tremendously talented and dedicated staff members who are being laid off or displaced, of whom contributed meaningfully during a critical time for our district. While these steps were necessary, they are deeply felt."
By cutting the positions, the projected use of the district's fund balance, or savings account, decreased by approximately $10 million, she wrote. The reductions do not include any decisions made by school-based budgeting.
She told the State Journal that most of the people who were laid off were not working within schools directly. It was mostly departmental staff, including people who work in support programs, for example.
"Our goal moving forward is to minimize the use of fund balance and ensure a stable financial future," Benavides wrote in the email. "This will take thoughtful planning over the course of the next school year as we continue to identify opportunities to right size our systems while keeping students at the center of every decision."
Contact Karly Graham at kgraham@lsj.com. Follow her on X at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal:Lansing School District cuts about 50 jobs as pandemic funding ends