Lawmaker calls for removal of district officials
The Michigan House Thursday approved a $4 million emergency allocation to be used for the students of the Highland Park Public School district after their school officials led the system into unrecoverable debt. The emergency measure was taken after it was found that the district would not be able to pay its employees this week, and it became unclear whether students would be able to finish out the year and potentially need to repeat their grade.
State Rep. Paul Opsommer, R-DeWitt, voted for House Bill 4445, which will pay a per-pupil allowance through the end of this school year for the students to still be able to attend schools in other districts. None of the additional money will be staying with the Highland Park district itself.
“The students should not be punished for the irresponsibility of Highland Park’s leaders, so we voted to provide dollars directly for their education and not for the school district,” Opsommer said. “This bill allows us to protect the children without rewarding the mismanagement of the school district itself and provides a necessary stop-gap measure while the best long-term solution is determined.”
Opsommer is also talking with state officials about its powers under Article 5, Section 10 of the state constitution, which allows the governor to remove or suspend a public official for malfeasance or misfeasance in office.
“The gross mismanagement and incompetence in managing taxpayer dollars should not be tolerated in Michigan, and we could send a strong message by removing these officials from their posts,” Opsommer said.
According to the state treasurer, the Highland Park School District is among the highest-funded in the state at approximately $14,000 per student in total. Despite this and other recent emergency measures the district was still unable to meet its payroll or make bond payments due to chronic mismanagement.
Gov. Snyder is expected to sign this legislation into law on Friday.