The race to find a solution to Michigan’s ailing roads in Lansing has drawn the attention of citizens and leaders across the state, including those of educators here in southwest Michigan.

Last week, more than a dozen superintendents from Berrien County signed a letter declaring their opposition to recently passed legislation in the Michigan House of Representatives, that would redirect funds collected through the state’s gas sales tax away from the school districts and towards road repairs. According to the letter, the county stands to lose up $11.5 million annually if the house bill is passed and signed into law.

The senate’s version of the bill differs greatly from its counterpart, calling for a raise on the current gas tax rate that would not impact current school funding. Both chambers of the legislature have been working on a compromised bill, rushing to finish before Thursday, the last day of the legislative calendar.

Among those awaiting the results are administrators with the Dowagiac Union Schools. According to projections, the district stands to lose about $1 million worth of state funds over the next several years should the house’s version pass.

“It’s going to be a huge chunk of money,” said Superintendent Paul Hartsig.

Losing that amount of funding will make a large impact in their budget projections over the next few years, resulting in several cutbacks to current programming, the superintendent said. While not able to name any specifics, Hartsig said the district would focus on eliminating or downsizing things that would have the smallest effect on student education.

While a concern to administrators across the district, no formal meetings about the potential effects the legislation have taken place, Hartsig said.

“We won’t spend a lot of our time and resources addressing it until we know what exactly will happen,” Hartsig said.

Despite the potential harm to students, Hartsig said that the discussion about how to fix the state’s infrastructure is one that needed to happen.

“The better the roads are, the better it is for our students,” he said. “We need good roads to ferry our students back and forth with our transportation system.”

At the moment, the district will continue to prepare for whatever adversity the legislature’s decision may cause, but will hope for the best.

“We’re optimistic that Lansing will find a way to achieve the priorities the state has in terms of roads and education,” Hartsig said. “We’re a little apprehensive about the information we’ve heard so far, but having lived in Michigan for years, you hear about a lot of things that never come to pass.”