School district interim superintendent confident feds will cave

HPS Interim Superintendent James Larson-Shidler

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck Public Schools is not taking ‘No’ for an answer.
Interim Superintendent James Larson-Shidler says the district is working with the state to get $3.9 million that the federal government is holding back.
The Federal Department of Education announced last week that it’s withholding a promised $42 million in covid funds to over two dozen Michigan school districts – including Hamtramck.
The district had previously been given permission to qualify for an extension on using the funding promised.
Shidler said the district needed an extension to receive the money because the actual cost of the upgrades made was late in being submitted.
That extension request was approved by the Biden administration.
The feds say the extension equals $7 million to the district, which Shidler insists is incorrect. The actual amount, Shidler said, is $3.9 million.
At last week’s monthly Board Of Education meeting, Shidler said he’s setting the yearly district budget with the assumption that the district will get reimbursed one way or another.
“If the federal government doesn’t come through, we’re in a good place to appeal to the governor, to the House, to the Senate to request that $4 million,” Shidler said.
“So we’re proceeding as if we’re receiving it.”
But at the same time, the state Department of Education is not making promises.
“Should this letter from (United States Department of Education) Secretary (Linda) McMahon stand, MDE (Michigan Department of Education) will be unable to automatically repay your district for expenses incurred that had not yet been reimbursed …” said Dr. Diane Golzynski, the state’s Deputy Superintendent Division of Business, Health and Library Services.
Despite this uncertainty, Shidler said the work being done will continue.
“This reversal presents serious challenges for our district, and others who followed federal guidance in good faith,” Shidler said in a press release. “We remain committed to ensuring these projects — critical to the health and safety of our students — are completed as planned.”
In all, the district received about $33 million from the federal government during the time of the Biden administration, in response to the covid pandemic.
That money was mostly used for making building improvements to help guard against a future pandemic outbreak.
If the feds refuse to release the funding, the district would be forced to dip into its budget surplus — which is either $7 million or $17 million, depending on whether anticipated funding comes in that is not related to the $4 million in question.
The district operates on a $58 million yearly budget.
In the Board of Education’s review of finances last week, it was noted that student enrollment has been declining in recent years, from a high of over 3,000 students a few years ago to the current head count of 2,890.
The district faces stiff competition from over a half dozen charter schools that operate in the city or just outside of Hamtramck’s boundaries.
The district is currently accepting student enrollment, and has been promoting the schools through social media and an Arabic-language-based publication in Dearborn.
The state pays out about $9,600 per student enrolled in the district, and the majority of the district’s finances come from state funding.
The district was hit with a loss of about $1 million per year when voters here twice overwhelmingly rejected a millage renewal a couple of years ago.
Shidler said there are no immediate plans to try once more to convince voters to renew that millage.
The district’s Recreation Department is facing a millage renewal either this year or next that could determine if that program will continue for another 10 years.
Posted April 18, 2025