Rural Southwest Michigan Schools Struggle as State Funding Gaps Force Voters to the Ballot

Rural Southwest Michigan Schools Struggle as State Funding Gaps Force Voters to the Ballot

KALAMAZOO COUNTY — Rural school districts in Southwest Michigan are facing a growing crisis as state funding falls short of the resources they need to keep students in classrooms. With chronic absenteeism rates climbing in some communities and millage expiration dates looming, local voters are being asked to fill the gap left by the state's school funding formula.

The situation is particularly acute in Van Buren County, where rural districts report some of the highest absenteeism rates in the region. Bloomingdale Public Schools reported 39.5% chronic absenteeism in 2024-25, while Bangor Public Schools reached 41.8%. Benton Harbor Area Schools experienced even higher rates, with 68% of students missing at least 10% of school days last year.

"If kids aren't here, how can they learn?" asked Rick Reo, superintendent of Bloomingdale Public Schools, which serves students in both Van Buren and Allegan counties.

Reo noted that the challenges facing these rural districts extend far beyond simple attendance issues. Families in the region often lack adequate transportation, face poverty, and deal with homelessness — problems that underresourced districts struggle to address. "Schools can't solve the biggest attendance problems alone," Reo said. "Communities have to pitch in by addressing the big issues that impact students' ability to get to school."

The Funding Gap

The root of the problem lies in Michigan's school funding formula. The state provides school districts with a foundation allowance based on per-pupil spending, but this amount has not kept pace with rising costs for staff benefits, transportation, and other essential services.

Current state education budget provides school districts with a $10,050 per-pupil foundation allowance, though the governor has proposed raising it to $10,300 in next year's budget. While this represents improvement over past years, it still falls significantly short of the 2002 peak when Michigan's School Aid Fund provided an average of $13,858 per student adjusted for inflation, according to a recent report from the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University.

"This funding is extremely unstable and can swing back and forth every year, depending on the political climate," noted Chandra Madafferi, president and CEO of the Michigan Education Association. "A million-dollar categorical grant awarded to a school district to hire more school social workers and paraprofessionals can be eliminated the very next year."

Kalamazoo County Voters Face Seven Proposals

On May 5, 2026, Kalamazoo County voters will decide on seven proposals affecting local schools, including three millage renewals, three bond proposals, and one ordinance amendment. The millages are particularly critical for rural districts in the region.

The most widespread is a Special Education Millage Renewal and Restoration Proposal for the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA). KRESA is an intermediate school district that serves the Greater Kalamazoo region by partnering with local schools to provide services in early childhood education, special education, career learning, and educator support.

The millage would renew a property tax levy that supports mandated special education programs, continuing for six more years at the originally authorized 1.5-mill rate. The approval would create an allocation of approximately $16.8 million per year for special education purposes.

"These funds are distributed to all nine school districts KRESA works with for special education," said Dedrick Martin, superintendent of KRESA. "School districts are mandated to have special education programs. Without these funds, they'd take money from other areas such as athletics and general education."

KRESA serves the following public school districts:

• Climax-Scotts Community Schools
• Comstock Public Schools
• Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools
• Gull Lake Community Schools
• Kalamazoo Public Schools
• Parchment School District
• Portage Public Schools
• Schoolcraft Community Schools
• Vicksburg Community Schools

Martin warned that without this millage, there would be "a loss of just under $500 per student" across these districts.

Another critical renewal is the Mattawan Consolidated School Operating Millage, which would allow the district to continue levying up to 18 mills on all property except principal residences. This millage is required for the district to receive its revenue per pupil foundation allowance from the state. If approved, the district would collect approximately $4.075 million.

Mattawan Consolidated Schools serves students in both Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties, making this renewal especially important for rural education in the region.

The third millage renewal is for Colon Community Schools' Sinking Fund Millage, which would continue the building and site sinking fund millage that expires with the 2026 tax levy. Renewal would maintain the current rate of 1.2906 mills until 2034, with estimated revenue of approximately $328,989. This millage is utilized for long-term building repairs, renovations, and safety improvements across Colon Community Schools, St. Joseph, Branch and Kalamazoo Counties.

What Works to Bring Students Back

While funding challenges persist, some new administrators are implementing strategies that researchers say are likely to reduce absenteeism. Amy Cockburn, newly installed as principal at South Haven High School after years as a teacher and administrator in rural Indiana schools, brought different approaches to the table.

Schools in Indiana have rebounded more quickly from pandemic-driven absenteeism surges than in Michigan, possibly due to tougher state laws, Cockburn observed. In Michigan, without those laws, schools must dig in and fight to bring students back.

Cockburn emphasized a no-excuses approach: "We can put a lot of blame on things, but that doesn't do any good. It's, stop making excuses and what are we going to do?"

Jeremy Singer, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan-Flint and absenteeism researcher, noted that most schools have ramped up efforts to curb absenteeism but often fail to do what actually works. Common, low-cost strategies like robocalls and letters home "might move the needle a little bit, but they're not going to solve the whole problem," Singer said.

Higher-impact, less common approaches like home visits or transportation assistance require more resources than many schools have available. But efforts to make kids want to come to school are least common, even though such efforts are the most promising practices within schools' control, according to Singer.

At Bloomingdale Public Schools, the district has implemented several strategies, including celebrating attendance and academic success with parent/student breakfasts and assemblies. The middle/high school recently started running a 5:45 p.m. bus, allowing students to stay late for tutoring, clubs, and sports. That means more connected kids and more kids who have a reason to come back to school the next day, Reo said.

The community provides Pullman Pride scholarships and is working on a grant to create safer pathways to school for kids who can't get a ride. Reo would like to get local volunteers into classrooms to wrap students in even more support.

"We have to do everything we can to make this place a place the kids want to be," Reo said. "If kids aren't here, how can they learn?"

Bangor High School principal Tammy Wilson has also tried to boost the school's focus on absenteeism, including by personally visiting homes of students at risk of court intervention because of absences. She uses resources from an online attendance promotion site, such as the daily attendance announcements made over the loudspeaker.

"Running late? Still come in. Minutes matter more than excuses," Marbut said, referring to attendance secretary Hailey Marbut.

A Community Effort

School leaders agree that fixing chronic absenteeism requires more than just school-based interventions. Communities must address the underlying issues — poverty, inadequate transportation, homelessness, and mobility — that impact students' ability to get to school.

In Bloomingdale, trailer homes patched with plywood and plastic sheeting line the local roads. In a region with scarce jobs and no public transportation, families without adequate income often double up in those cramped trailer homes. About 87 students in the district were homeless last year, according to Reo.

Even the best-intentioned parents struggle to get their kids to school in such circumstances, Reo noted. Sickness accounts for some of the absences, exacerbated by a lack of easy access to medical care. More often, kids simply miss the bus and no parent can drive them.

School admins have sent empty buses to pick up kids who missed the first one, but "that can get expensive," Reo acknowledged. Gas cards for parents and a van sent to pick up unhoused students temporarily outside busing boundaries don't help enough, either.

At Bangor High School, which reported the highest absenteeism percentage among rural school districts in Southwest Michigan last year at 42%, new principal Tammy Wilson has focused on expanding awareness of skilled trade careers and providing access to apprenticeship opportunities.

"Some high schoolers miss school because they have been parentified, kept home to look after younger siblings while a parent works," Wilson said. "Others hold down jobs to help support the family. Others just don't want to be here."

The Path Forward

As voters head to the polls on May 5, the question remains whether the state funding formula will continue to leave rural districts like those in Van Buren, Kalamazoo, and surrounding counties asking taxpayers to fill gaps that should be addressed at the state level.

For now, school leaders in Southwest Michigan are doing what they can with the resources available, implementing strategies that researchers say work, and calling for community support. But without addressing the underlying funding issues, the battle to bring students back to classrooms will continue.

"We don't think anyone's figured out the attendance problem," Reo said. "Is there more we can do? Absolutely."

Sources

• "If kids aren't here, how can they learn?" Rural Southwest Michigan battles to bring back absent students — mlive.com: https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2026/04/rural-southwest-michigan-battles-to-bring-back-absent-students.html
• "If kids aren't here, how can they learn?" Rural Southwest Michigan battles to bring back absent students — WMUK: https://www.wmuk.org/2026-04-04/if-kids-arent-here-how-can-they-learn-rural-southwest-michigan-battles-to-bring-back-absent-students
• "Why districts are asking voters for help — and what the school funding formula has to do with it" — WSAW: https://www.wsaw.com/2026/04/01/why-districts-are-asking-voters-help-what-school-funding-formula-has-do-with-it/
• "Labor Voices: Despite myths, Michigan spends less on schools than it did a generation ago" — The Detroit News via Yahoo: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/labor-voices-despite-myths-michigan-231200585.html
• "Voters to decide on taxes for schools and Portage's trash system" — NowKalamazoo: https://nowkalamazoo.org/2026/04/voters-to-decide-on-taxes-for-schools-and-portages-trash-system/
• "Copper Country Intermediate School District asks counties to support 10-year millage renewal" — Upper Michigan's Source: https://uppermichiganssource.com/2026/04/02/copper-country-intermediate-school-district-asks-counties-support-10-year-millage-renewal