Leer en Español, traducido por El Vocero Hispano
Godfrey-Lee — Facing a 10% drop in student enrollment, the district laid off five administrators including three of its four principals, an administrative assistant and a dean of students on Thursday.
The loss to the district includes the principal and dean from Lee Middle/High School and principals from Godfrey Elementary School and the Early Childhood Center. Godfrey-Lee Public Schools, located in Wyoming, is the smallest district in Kent County.
While the Board of Education approved the district’s $30.2 million budget in June, Superintendent Arnetta Thompson said layoffs were necessary now due to this year’s drop in students enrollment and an uncertain funding climate.
“It’s unfortunate that we had to do it, but it is truly for the long-term preservation of financial stability and continued success of our students, and we wanted to make cuts as far away from the classroom as possible to protect the core teaching and learning environment,” Thompson said.
Beyond statewide challenges, Thompson cited an enrollment decline of 160 over the past two years, nearly 10% of the district’s 1,661 total students in 2024-25. The district received $9,608 per student from the state last year, which would result in a $1.5 million loss with 160 fewer students this year.
“Fewer students mean fewer resources, and with this reality, some programs and services will need to be scaled back in proportion to the number of students we serve,” she said. “Our goal is to have a balanced budget with a healthy fund balance and a sustainable structure that we can count on year after year.”
The Board of Education released a statement to the community Thursday saying they “have made the very difficult decision to reduce staff positions due to declining student enrollment, ongoing uncertainties with state budget funding” and the risk of a government shutdown.
No teachers or unionized support staff members were affected by the district’s staffing reduction, according to district communications.
“This is not the message we hoped to share as we start a new school year. Yet, it is our duty to be honest and transparent about the realities we face,” Thompson said. “Together, as the Godfrey-Lee FamiLee, we will navigate these challenges with resilience, creativity, and a shared commitment to our students.”
Thompson said the district faces uncertainty with state funding, due to the lack of state budget and looming risk of a state government shutdown on September 30.
Long past Michigan state lawmakers’ July 1 deadline to approve a K–12 budget, there has still been no agreement reached in Lansing. During a recent interview with SNN’s Study Hall podcast, Dan Behm, executive director of Education Advocates of West Michigan, said political gridlock is making it impossible for school districts to plan their budgets.
State funding represents a significant portion of Godfrey-Lee’s financial resources to pay teachers and staff, support student services, operate buses and sustain academic, arts and athletic programs.
To make up for lost funds, the district said in their community letter, “Certain services will be reduced to align with enrollment and resources,” and they’re halting all new capital projects.
For the rest of the school year, remaining administrators will serve interim roles in their buildings and others will be absorbed by existing positions, Thompson said.
“Our plan is to see if this is feasible in terms of people’s capacity and we’re going to reassess at the end of the school year,” she said. “Our longer-term goal was to reduce administrative staff; we just were forced to do it a lot quicker due to budget uncertainty and declined enrollment this year.”
Marcus Bradstreet, Godfrey-Lee’s chief administrative officer, said the district notified administrators who were laid off with “very transparent communication” last weekend and again this week and said it “wasn’t a shock” to those whose positions were cut.
However, former Godfrey Elementary Principal Joseph Alcaraz said he felt “blindsided” during his one-on-one meeting with the superintendent Thursday afternoon.
Alcaraz said he and his fellow administrators received “ambiguous” communication from the district last week, before receiving an email to schedule a one-on-one. He also said during a meeting with Thompson in April to discuss his resignation, was encouraged to remain in his role and received a “stellar” performance review last year for exceeding all of his goals for the school.
After being asked to not resign last spring, Alcarez said he felt “disrespected” about being laid off.
Read more from Godfrey-Lee:
• Fifth-graders sound off on first day of school
• Student homeless numbers increase, future funding uncertain
