Inkster School District Dissolved, Teachers Terminated
INKSTER (WWJ/AP) - The financially struggling Inkster school district has officially been dissolved.
The Wayne County Regional Education Service Agency's Board of Education on Thursday night took action to dissolve Inkster Public Schools, which had a $15 million budget deficit.
The dissolution means the former district's 2,200 students will be headed elsewhere when school starts less than six weeks from now. The school districts receiving students are Romulus, Taylor, Westwood and Wayne-Westland. County officials say notices will be sent out to parents in the coming days to tell them which of the four area districts their children will be attending.
The dissolution also means all Inkster Public Schools teachers and staff will be terminated.
The change comes after the city missed a Monday deadline, set by state Treasurer Andy Dillon and state Schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan, to secure new loans to finance operations.
A new law signed by Gov. Rick Snyder earlier this month lays the groundwork for struggling school districts to be closed and for their students to be sent to schools nearby.
The measure lets the state's school superintendent and treasurer dissolve a district under certain circumstances, including if it doesn't submit a deficit-elimination plan or submits one but lacks the ability to implement it.
Other prerequisites include a finding that the district isn't financially viable, has 300 to 2,400 students (exempting larger districts) and loses at least 10 percent of its enrollment from the previous school year.
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