FLINT -- The Flint Community School District is facing a $3.7 million deficit.

Yeo & Yeo performed an independent audit on the district’s 2011-2011 school year, and reports the school massive the massive budget deficit.

The district now has 30 days to come up with a deficit elimination plan and must notify the Michigan Department of Education that it is a “deficit district.”  It must also undergo a monthly monitoring report on revenue and expenditures.

“We’ve been working diligently for the past three years to get our financial house in order by reducing personnel costs to east the strain on our budget," Superintendent Linda Thompson said in a written release. “Unfortunately, a combination of difficult economic conditions, continued decline in enrollment and increased operating costs has resulted in a shortfall in our general fund budget.  Personnel costs account for 80 percent of our budget, and the increases in healthcare and retirement costs have been difficult to absorb along with the other factors.”

Thompson reports the district is looking at several options to reduce the deficit for next school year, including personnel cost cuts, possible school closures, and privatizing more services. 

The Flint Board of Education must also be on board with the deficit reduction plan. 

The district reports that while the total deficit is $3.7 million, about $1 million of that is “due to reimbursable funds owed to Flint Community Schools.”  While the Flint schools still face a $2.7 million shortfall, this does not put them in the threat of being taken over by an emergency financial manager.