By LINDSAY VanHULLE
SUTTONS BAY -- Half the Suttons Bay Public Schools staff members who were laid off this summer have been reinstated, as administrators anticipate receiving thousands of dollars in federal aid.
School board members this week voted 6-0, with member David Buffum absent, to bring back 15 of the 30 certified and support staff cut in late June.
They include elementary classroom teachers, Montessori aides and a counselor to serve both the middle and high schools, Superintendent Mike Murray said. Not all were rehired for their original positions.
The cuts were made ahead of a projected $1 million budget deficit that stems in part from an enrollment decline and rising energy prices.
Murray also said the district lost revenue two years ago because of what he believes was a miscalculation in how much federal aid it should receive. That aid has not been recovered.
The impact aid, as it's called, is based on how many American Indian students live on federally protected land within a school district.
Suttons Bay has between 130 and 140 students who live on the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians reservation, in nearby Peshawbestown.
He believes the total number of impact aid students was underreported, which in turn reduced the amount of income. He is working with state and federal officials to replace the estimated $300,000 owed.
Roberta Stanley, director of state and federal relations with the Michigan Department of Education, said she was "cautiously optimistic" that funds could be returned.
"We try to get every available federal dollar into the state of Michigan that's due us," Stanley said. "I'm more optimistic than pessimistic."
Murray chose to bring staff back before school starts Tuesday to minimize disruption, even though the money is not guaranteed.
"I have reasonable assurance that these funds will be coming," Murray said. "I thought it's better to take the risk and do it now."
The district's fund balance will be tapped to pay the rehired staff in the meantime. But the move won't completely drain the district's reserves, board Vice President Tom Nixon said.
In June, Murray said the fund balance was about $770,000 and could dip to about $620,000 this year.
Teachers generally are pleased with how the cuts were handled, said Keven Cross, a social studies and physical education instructor who leads the Suttons Bay Education Association, which represents them.
"If you're changing students and teachers and classes, you're losing that flow and momentum you have," he said. "He is putting people back in the classrooms."
