Novi Community Schools trustees voted unanimously to offer buyout packages to teachers in the union's top three pay grades, a move district leaders say is necessary to close a widening budget gap. The board's decision, made during a meeting that included more than an hour of public comment, gives eligible teachers until Sept. 27 to decide whether to take the offer — a window of 45 days.
District officials say the buyouts are meant to avoid forced layoffs, but the arithmetic is unforgiving. Novi Community Schools Assistant Superintendent of Talent Management and Development Laura Carino said the district may need to begin layoffs based on seniority if fewer than 40 of the 117 eligible employees accept the offer, according to MLive. Board members and administrators emphasized that no one should feel pressured or forced to take a buyout, per the same report.
A Budget Squeezed From Multiple Directions
The district's finances have been tightening for years. Novi Community Schools reported revenue of $95.6 million against expenditures of $96.9 million in 2023, and by 2025 those figures had grown to roughly $104.1 million in revenue against just over $104.2 million in expenditures, per MLive's reporting. This year, the district has budgeted $109.6 million in expenditures against an estimated $108.8 million in revenue, and its general fund balance — currently $11.5 million — is expected to fall below $10 million by the end of the fiscal year.
Novi Community Schools Chief Financial Officer Ben Mainka described the district as being in a state of right-sizing, though he stressed the district is not in dire straits or experiencing a catastrophe, the outlet reports. Mainka noted Michigan state funding rose just 0.7% this year, even as the district anticipates annual cost increases between 3% and 4%. Novi also offered early retirement incentives to 15 to 35 employees in March, and most who accepted did so within the first 48 hours, according to Carino.
A Countywide Tax Measure Falls Just Short
Much of Novi's budget strain traces back to a ballot measure that came up short by the slimmest of margins. Voters rejected the Oakland County Regional Enhancement Millage on Aug. 4 by a vote of 51% to 49%, according to MLive. Official countywide results tallied by C & G Newspapers put it even more precisely: 169,823 votes against to 163,120 in favor.
The proposal would have levied a 1.5-mill property tax over six years, from 2026 through 2031, projected to generate roughly $781 per pupil annually for every public school student in the county, according to Berkley Schools. MLive's reporting put the figure at more than $700 per pupil for each district. District officials had delayed the buyout decision until after the Aug. 4 primary vote, waiting to see whether the extra funding would materialize before committing to staff reductions.
The measure's failure broke down sharply along geographic lines. Rural Oakland County townships including Rose, Groveland, Brandon, and Addison saw support fall under 30%, while inner-ring communities such as Pleasant Ridge, Huntington Woods, and Royal Oak Township backed it at more than 70%, according to the Oakland County Times. Oakland Schools Superintendent Kenneth Gutman issued a statement respecting the outcome while acknowledging that intermediate district leaders must now help local districts manage costs without the additional tax revenue, per C & G Newspapers.
A Separate Funding Loss Tied to Legal Liability
The millage defeat wasn't Novi's only funding setback this year. The district lost $1.4 million in state funding after declining to give up governmental immunity connected to a mass-casualty event, MLive reported, noting that roughly 75% of Michigan school districts made the same refusal. That funding stream was tied to Section 31aa of the Michigan School Aid Act, which made $321 million in state safety and mental health funding contingent on districts agreeing to participate in state-directed mass-casualty investigations and waiving certain legal privileges, according to The Mining Journal. Neighboring Lake Orion Community Schools made a similar calculation, rescinding its application and turning down $1.13 million in state aid over the same privilege concerns, according to the Lake Orion Review.
Michigan's school funding structure leaves districts with few alternatives when state and federal dollars fall short. Under the state's 1994 Proposal A framework, individual districts cannot independently vote to raise local operating property taxes, making a countywide regional enhancement millage the only legal mechanism available to boost per-student operating revenue, per the Oakland Enhancement Millage campaign's own materials. That structural limit is compounded by the loss of federal pandemic aid — Michigan schools received nearly $3.7 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds that expired in September 2024, according to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, which separately projected the state could lose up to 5,100 teaching positions over two years as districts realign staffing to pre-pandemic levels.
Rising Enrollment, Rising Behavioral Needs
Novi's staffing pressures are not simply about shrinking headcount. The district has seen a rise in students with behavioral needs, and Novi Community Schools needs to adjust staffing to meet those needs while still competing to hire teachers, according to MLive. Enrollment has grown as well, from 6,665 students in 2023 to 6,761 in 2025, meaning the district is trying to trim costs even as it educates more children with more complex needs.
Teachers who accept a buyout may resign or retire between Aug. 21 and Oct. 5, and those choosing a delayed departure will continue working as substitute teachers or in other support roles until their last day, per the same report. Teachers accepting separation offers will receive a direct check or a retirement-account deposit. Erin Harbar, who has worked for Novi Community Schools for 25 years, was among those referenced in coverage of the district's workforce changes.
What Comes Next for the District
To help close the remaining gap, Novi may raise facility rental fees and increase fees for school sports, programs, and other student activities. Potential fee increases could offset close to $500,000 of the general fund deficit, according to MLive's reporting — a fraction of the shortfall but part of a broader patchwork of adjustments. Buyout details themselves were not discussed during the school board meeting, and district and union officials did not respond to MLive's requests for comment as of last Friday.
Mainka said it remains unclear whether the countywide millage will appear on a future ballot, leaving open the question of whether Oakland Schools will attempt another run at the enhancement measure. He said he expects the district's finances to improve, possibly by the end of the school year. Novi's situation echoes broader tension across Oakland County, where Hoodline has reported on county buyouts tied to shrinking local government contracts, and where Metro Detroit districts have increasingly turned to large bond measures to cover facility and operational costs.
