School district working towards budget resolution

By Sarah Shurge – Over the summer, the Wayne-Westland Community Schools (WWCS) learned about significant issues related to the district finances.
WWCS Superintendent John Dignan, released a statement to the community on Tuesday, October 24th, explaining that the annual fiscal audit uncovered that what they believed to be a surplus was actually a budgetary shortfall. This would require the board and the district to make some hard decisions.
After a thorough review of the student enrollment, revenue cycle, and expenses, a decision was made for a staff reduction of 24 of the district’s 1,661 full and part-time positions at the end of the first semester in January. This reduction includes non-instructional positions through administrative roles.
All impacted employees have been notified.
Superintendent Dignan released another statement to the community on Thursday, December 7th, regarding updates to transportation services. This statement explained how the district has requested proposals from vendors to determine if privatizing the transportation services would better serve the students and families. Multiple vendors have responded to the request for proposals.
Wayne-Westland Community Schools have also heard from multiple stakeholders and bargaining groups. The bargaining groups have expressed a desire to collaborate with the district to identify ways to control costs and increase consistency.