BUCHANAN — Following a trend that has existed at Buchanan Community Schools since at least 2013, the board of education adopted a deficit budget Monday evening.

The Buchanan Community Schools Board of Education approved the adoption of a proposed budget for the 2019-2020 school year. With a total revenue of $16,250,731 and a total expenditure of $16,525,854, the proposed budget leaves the district with a deficit of $275,123.

The budget was initially proposed at the board of education’s June 4 meeting, with a budget deficit of $432,000. However, the board recommended that Superintendent Timothy Donahue and his team rework the proposed budget to adhere to district policy, which is for the fund balance to be no less than 16.7 percent of revenue or no less than two months of expenditures.

In an interview with the Niles Daily Star following the June 4 meeting, Donahue said that there were a number factors that led to the deficit, including a reduction in the number of enrolled students and the lack of a formally adopted budget from the Michigan Legislature.

“We simply don’t know yet what the state of Michigan is going to provide in terms of funding for schools,” Donahue said. “We had to kind of guess at a dollar amount.”

The difference between the original deficit of $432,000 and the adopted deficit of $275,123 was taken out of the budget for basic programming, which can include programs at all levels, including the Great Start Readiness Program and Career Technical Education, as well as staff wages, substitute teachers and teaching supplies.

Currently, the board has not decided where within the basic programming budget to make cuts, but Tricia Lowery, executive director of business and operations, said the administration would be having meetings to look at where cuts can be made. Board members said they would be looking at every option, including whether or not to fully replace departing staff members.

“How this works is we have given a directive to [the superintendent] that he has to cut this much from the budget,” said board member Dennis Wentworth. “He is going to meet with the administrators to figure out where those actual costs are coming from.”

The decision caused confusion and concern among staff and parents in attendance Monday evening, with several parents wanting to know where money would be going and where cuts would be made. The board worked to address those concerns at a hearing prior to the regularly scheduled board meeting and assured the audience that the budget would be amended and adjusted throughout the year.

“For example, last year, we amended it in January because we get to know more from the state about what money does get to us,” said board member Jim DeVlaminck. “We get to know more information; we refine that budget. Last month, we refined that even further. … What we are looking at here is a proposed budget.”

“This is something that has been done for many, many years,” added board member Ruth Writer. “We start at one point and then have to revise. It’s fluid.”

With specific cuts to be made up in the air, Buchanan Community Schools staff members said they would not know how to respond to the budget until specific decisions about programs and staffing had been made.

“I understand the board’s desire to maintain a safe fund equity balance, but it concerns me that it is going to be balanced on the backs of student programs and teacher’s positions,” said Wendy Murphy, president of the Buchanan Education Association, the district’s teacher’s union. “Right now, it’s kind of a holding pattern until they decide what they are going to cut to make up that money.”