Dems OK $125M for Michigan school safety, mental health. GOP wanted more

• Michigan Legislature approves additional $126 million for school safety and mental health initiatives, partially reversing earlier cuts
• Democrats finalize separate bill to permanently reduce school district retirement costs
• Some Republicans voted for spending bill but argued it did not go far enough and amounts to an election-year gimmick

Facing pressure from school groups in a critical election year, Michigan House Democrats on Wednesday proposed spending an additional $126 million on student safety and mental health. 

The proposal, unveiled as Democrats fight to retain their slim two-seat House majority, would partially reverse what school groups had decried as a funding cut in a budget that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed in July. 

The new plan, set for a possible vote later Wednesday, would provide $125 million in per-student payments to support mental health and school safety efforts. Republicans criticized the proposal as an incomplete fix. 

Another $1 million would be set aside to create a tip line for students to anonymously report guns in violation of Michigan’s new safe storage law, which requires adults to keep firearms inaccessible to minors.

Democrats said the spending proposal, which now heads to Whitmer for potential signature, would help make "our schools stronger." 

The spending saw broad bipartisan support in the House but a nearly party-line vote in the Senate, where Republicans argued it did not go far enough and criticized it as an incomplete solution. 

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Senate Republicans, who had proposed a larger spending bill, declined to give the Democratic plan immediate effect, meaning school districts will likely not get the funds until the first months of 2025.

Sponsoring Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, said as a former public school employee she’s “seen firsthand” what mental health struggles can do to students.

“(It) shuts them down, dims their curiosity and suppresses their appetite to learn,” Weiss said. “We must do better for our kids, for our parents and for our teachers.”

As part of a broader budget deal earlier this summer, lawmakers approved $26.5 million in school safety and mental health grants, down from $328 million the prior year. Private schools are also eligible for a small portion of these funds.

School district leaders told Bridge Michigan at the time that they were “appalled" by the decision.

Under the new plan, school districts would receive a combined $151.5 million in funding this school year for mental health and school safety efforts, which is still roughly half of what they got the previous school year.

Republicans questioned the motive. 

“This less-than-half-measure leaves schools and students without the resources they need, but Democrats seem to hope this stunt will be good enough to improve their political prospects,” House Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said in a statement.  “Do they care more about protecting their political careers than keeping students safe?”

Retirement savings

The funding dispute came amid ongoing concerns over recent school shootings and student mental health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

School officials say they spent prior safety and mental health grants on counselors, staff training, cybersecurity software and more. 

Whitmer’s administration has defended the initial budget, saying it included other pots of money – including retirement contribution savings – schools could choose to spend on mental health and school safety.

Democrats voted Wednesday to make those retirement savings permanent, sending Whitmer a bill that would lower how much traditional public school districts have to pay into the state’s educator retiree system.

Currently, school districts must pay 20.96% of their payroll costs into the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement System, which includes funding for retiree health care, benefits and pensions. 

House Bill 5803 would permanently reduce school districts’ required contributions to 15.21%. It would also eliminate the requirement that some employees pay 3% toward their retiree health care costs. 

Republicans have bashed the legislation as a “raid” on the teacher pension system that could jeopardize future benefits. 

‘Meaningful change’

The separate $126 million spending plan was announced by House Democrats earlier Wednesday in a press conference held just minutes after the proposal was first made public. 

It included representatives in some of the state’s tightest legislative races, highlighting the electoral significance. 

“This is meaningful change for Michigan students, and as we all know, actions speak louder than words, and House Democrats are bringing transformational change to local schools,” House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, said.

But some Republicans wanted more. 

Senate Republicans earlier Wednesday attempted to force a vote on their proposal that would have increased school safety and mental health funding by more than $300 million to match last year's spend.

Majority Democrats rejected a motion to discharge that bill from committee, however.

"With a new fiscal year starting in a matter of days, schools in every one of our districts are facing massive and dangerous cuts to critical funding," said Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe. "This isn't money for swimming pools or pickleball courts. This is money to protect our children's physical and mental well-being.”

School groups pleased

Peter Spadafore, executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, a group that represents school districts, told Bridge that the House plan to restore some of the funding “will go a long way in ensuring that every district receives a much larger increase than we saw in the June budget.”

He said he was pleased to see the Legislature working with “urgency” to address the issue. 

Advocates with the Michigan Education Justice Coalition were also pleased to see the additional funding, but they didn’t see it as a full fix. Molly Sweeney, the group’s organizing director, noted there is currently just one school counselor for every 570 students in the state.

“We know that the state as a whole is in dire need of revenue, and so we know that the legislators were doing their best to figure out how to fund all the things,” Sweeney said.

At Ypsilanti Community Schools, the buildings previously underwent security assessments. If the House plan is eventually signed into law, Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross told Bridge she’ll work with others, including law enforcement, to determine what security purchases can be made to enhance school security, such as security cameras

“I just really appreciate the fact that they’ve heard our voices and understand that security and mental health are important to us,” she said. 

Where the money comes from, is going

In recent years, school districts have heavily invested in school security equipment like security cameras and vestibules. They’ve also expanded mental health programming and hired staff to address student mental health concerns.

But demand for school safety funding has so far surpassed supply. In 2023, school districts requested a combined $45 million to hire school resource officers, for instance, but legislators had only allocated $25 million for the program. Seventy four applications were denied.

Weiss, who sponsored the new $126 million spending plan, said the state could pay for it using unspent funds from a different school mental health grant program that had helped districts hire school counselors, nurses, social workers and school psychologists. 

Lauren Leeds, spokesperson for the State Budget Office said there was roughly $107 million remaining in that fund. 

The new spending plan uses money from the School Aid Fund, which cannot be used for private schools. 

That means non-public schools won’t be eligible for any of the additional student safety and mental health funding, prompting advocates to call on the Legislature to “fix” the plan now headed to Whitmer’s desk. 

"It is beyond comprehension why some Michigan students’ safety would be potentially compromised just by virtue of the name on their school building,” Brian Broderick, executive director for the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools, said in a statement. 

Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:56 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, to clarify that school administrators viewed previous funding for mental health as a budget cut.