GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WXMI) — With a few strokes of a pen, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wiped out millions of dollars in debt owed by six public school districts.
On Monday, Whitmer signed a package of supplemental funding bills aimed at various education and infrastructure initiatives across the state. Against the blue backdrop of Grand Valley State University's Pew Campus in Grand Rapids, the governor sent money to K-12 schools, projects at various higher education institutes and infrastructure initiatives.
Among the six public school districts having their debt paid off is Muskegon Heights. The district has struggled with debt for years. In 2012, a state-appointed emergency manager took control of the district and instituted the charter academy system. Four years later in 2016, the emergency manager turned over financial control back to the local board of education, but the academy system retained the day-to-day responsibilities of the school.
Now the state is paying off the more than $31 million in debt, which will allow the public school board to dissolve the academy system. That's not expected to happen until the end of the 2023-2024 school year because the signed law stipulates full payment need to be made by that time.
School districts in Inkster, Benton Harbor, Pontiac, Ypsilanti and the former Willow Run district also will have debt paid off. In total, state lawmakers signed off on paying more than $91 million in public school debt.
HIGHER EDUCATION PROJECTS
Several projects at community colleges and public universities also received funding.
Grand Valley State University's Blue Dot Lab officially gets the $30 million pledged by the state. The estimated $140 million project would repurpose the Eberhard Center on the banks of the Grand River.
Other on-campus projects at Northern Michigan University, University of Michigan-Flint, Eastern Michigan University, Macomb Community College, Oakland University and Saginaw Valley State University also received funding.
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTS
The bills send funding from the Federal Highway Administration to various road and bridge projects across the state.
The city of Highland Park gets one of the biggest financial supports as it works to replace its water system aged nearly 120 years.
In total, the package of bills spends nearly $276 million.
