01-04-2025
Study finds Michigan public schools need $22.8 billion for repairs. Where's the money?
School buildings in the state are aging and a new study of Michigan's public school infrastructure has found district buildings need $22.8 billion in repairs or renovations, with $5.3 billion in needs in the next one to three years.
What do aging school district buildings look like? In Baldwin Community Schools in northern Michigan: a flooded band room. A collapsed ceiling in a school kitchen. Corroded pipes.
In others? Inefficient or antiquated HVAC systems. Crumbling roofs. And the decision between hiring a teacher or fixing one of these problems, school leaders said in a news conference March 20.
"We're not talking about trying to do things that are outlandish or expensive," said Jason Mellema, superintendent of the Ingham Intermediate School District. "We're talking about the basics. We're talking about safety. We're talking about infrastructure."
The study conducted by the School Finance Research Foundation was commissioned by the state Legislature in 2022. It involved auditors assessing more than 2,500 school buildings across the state, with 93% of districts participating, excluding charter schools. District and state education leaders said the state desperately needs to create a sustained source of school infrastructure funding or risk student safety.
"Physical spaces in which our students learn directly impacts their engagement, their health, their attendance and academic achievement," said Steven Ezikian, executive director of the School Finance Research Foundation. "In that way, these physical spaces also impact our economy, prepare kids for jobs in the future, and our entire state."
Leaders said the high-level assessment of Michigan's school buildings was badly needed. But solutions — mainly the need for more funding — will likely not come quickly, as $22 billion is roughly equivalent to what the state spends on public schools annually. Michigan does not have a dedicated source of funding for school infrastructure, so districts often must turn to the local ballot to ask voters for the money to address building issues. The result is an uneven playing field for Michigan school districts, where public schools in areas with wealthier tax bases are more likely to have the funds to pay for repairs, according to studies from the School Finance Research Collaborative, a Lansing-based group that has conducted studies of school funding needs.
Over 18 months, the School Finance Research Foundation worked with a team to analyze building conditions and determine repair costs for repairs and upgrades needed over nine years. The team aimed to choose the most cost-effective option to meet building needs, choosing between repairing a building issue or paying for a replacement.
The study found:
Districts would need $22.8 billion to be brought up "to a common standard of health, safety, and wellness through the year 2033."
A need to repair the vast majority of school buildings.
About 23% of the estimated spending is needed for repairs in the next three years, 31% is needed in four to six years and 46.2% is needed in seven to nine years.
The most-needed repairs were to school HVAC systems, at about 33% of the study's total estimated cost, or $7.5 billion in needs, with roofing repairs being the second-highest need at 15.2% of the total estimated cost, or $3.4 billion in needs.
In the news conference, education leaders hailed the effort to take stock of the state's school buildings and said investigators spent a collective 95,000 hours assessing buildings.
"This was the first time we have taken a hard look at what it would cost to bring our school buildings up to standards that would support a safe, healthy learning environment," said Doug Leisenring, superintendent of the Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District.
It's a fraught question.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's proposed budget includes $155 million in a school district infrastructure fund for the purpose of improving school buildings. If the Legislature were to approve that deposit in the upcoming fiscal year's budget, about $430 million would be available in that fund, nearly 2% of the full $22.8 billion outlined in the study and nearly 9% of the $5 billion of the most-urgent needs.
Education leaders for years have decried Michigan's way of funding education building needs, which lacks a dedicated stream funded on an annual basis, the way per-pupil funding is consistently funded. Turning to voters for local tax funding isn't a sure thing. For example, Hazel Park School District's 2024 $150 million bond proposal, which would have included building security upgrades, HVAC repairs, a new elementary school building and more, was met with opposition from community members. The bond failed on the May 2024 ballot, with 66% voting no.
Nick Ceglarek, superintendent of Northwest Education Services in the northern part of the state, said the state funding model neglects to take into account regular maintenance costs and makes districts turn to voters to ask for bond money, funded through local taxes, to cover building costs.
"It should be noted that there is a significant inequity statewide in an individual district's ability to meet ongoing capital needs through bonds," he said.
Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Study: Michigan schools need $22.8 billion in repairs. Where's funds?
