Early childhood programs in Northern Michigan face state funding cuts

LANSING — Northern Michigan school districts say that unexpected state funding cuts are leaving them with two options — cancel programming, or put up hundreds of thousands of dollars in unplanned expenses.

Great Start Collaboratives, or GSC’s, previously received close to $20 million in support statewide — that was slashed to zero this year, leaving some districts to cancel services for kids and families.

“We’re at a slow shutdown,” said Cari O’Connor, Montcalm Area ISD’s Associate Superintendent of Early Childhood Services.

“There are many things that we had to stop completely because we didn’t have the funds to sustain,” she said. “We have families that continue to reach out and talk about the devastating loss, the elimination of this funding and the supports.”

For parents, GSC’s focused on connecting families in similar positions, distributing early childhood essentials and accessing resources for those in need.

GSC’s also worked to provide kids zero through five with early literacy skills, free school supplies and social and emotional development.

Education leaders say that without the state’s funding, families and children will have fewer resources available to them.

“This work is really the only work that that was being done at that level for birth to five families,” O’Connor said.

Montcalm Area ISD previously received $250,000 from the state, which the district says it’s unable to make up.

“To have this out of nowhere be eliminated — it hurts, and families are very vocal about the hurt that they’re experiencing already,” O’Connor said.

The Eastern UP ISD received more than $400,000 from the state last year, part of its long-running GSC.

“If funding is not restored, services will be reduced or eliminated and sustaining the level of impact that we’ve had will be impossible,” said Jessica Savoie, Eastern UP ISD’s early childhood director.

“We’ve had this funding since 2006 and we’ve been able to provide programs like home visiting through Parents as Teachers, literacy initiatives, trainings for early childhood professionals and community members,” she said.

Savoie says the funding cut is just too large for the district to fill.

“Losing this collaboration is going to leave significant gaps that will directly impact children and families and our ability in the community to address those critical issues,” Savoie said.

Both Montcalm and Eastern UP say that most of their services have already come to an end or will stop at the end of the year.

They will have some funding remaining through June — Montcalm says they’ll use that to support referral services and to hold its annual community baby shower. The Eastern UP ISD says they’ll use the funds to continue home visiting services.