A Thaw In TCAPS, TBAISD Dispute?

Local weather isn’t the only place a major thaw is taking place: after an extended and often personal dispute between the superintendents of the Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) and the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District (TBAISD) over revenue sharing, the TCAPS Board of Education is poised to vote in favor of approving the TBAISD budget. It would be the first such vote in six years.

The TCAPS Board has repeatedly voted against approving the TBAISD budget as symbolic gestures of dissent over the way TBAISD was allocating resources among the 16 school districts it serves. In particular, TCAPS has taken issue with a fund balance that TBAISD has grown gradually over the years.

In Michigan, ISDs serve as intermediaries between the Michigan Department of Education and local school districts like TCAPS. The Department of Education allocates funding to the ISDs, which are then responsible for providing some services to the districts they serve, including auditing student numbers on count days, offering career and technical education, and running early childhood and special education programs.

In 2007, when now-former TBAISD Superintendent Mike Hill took over, he instituted a policy whereby TBAISD held back some of its state funding. That fund balance served as a sort of rainy day fund the ISD could use for emergencies or big projects. In 2014, the fund balance hit a high of $36.5 million before TBAISD initiated a plan to gradually drawn down the balance.

TCAPS Superintendent Paul Soma had been critical of TBAISD’s money allocation policies since before he started his superintendency in 2015. In particular, Soma has been vocal about TCAPS not getting enough funding for special education programs, which are required by the state but not fully state-funded. He repeatedly suggested that TBAISD use some of the fund balance money to help TCAPS provide special education. The money, he insisted, would help TCAPS meet state requirements without diverting money from other programs.

But at a TCAPS Board of Education Finance Committee meeting Wednesday morning, the thaw began to take shape. Soma urged the board to approve the 2018-2019 TBAISD General Education Budget, noting that Hill’s departure has created a new and improved working relationship between the districts.

 “We can do better,” Soma said. “We’re going to do better. That’s what I’ve been told. Every indication of the leadership at the ISD has told me ‘We’re here to work with you. We understand what you’re saying. What you’re saying is accurate.’”

Soma continued: “I’m very excited to say that I’m recommending, and we as a team are recommending, strongly, that we send a message of appreciation back for this change in attitude by saying ‘Thank you, we’re supporting your budget this year.’”

Other Finance Committee members agreed with Soma, though Chair Scott Hardy did note that TCAPS would be “operating to some degree on faith” in its support of the TBAISD budget because the district has no tangible evidence that things will change. Soma responded that the ISD has created a priority list for the future, with the fund balance at the top.

The TBAISD budget will now go to the full TCAPS Board of Education for consideration and approval, which still would be largely symbolic, but would represent a significant shift. The topic will appear as a discussion motion on the agenda for the next board meeting, which is scheduled for next Monday at 6pm.