Voters in Alpena, Montmorency and Alcona counties will decide Nov. 3 whether to renew the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District’s special education millage for another 10 years.
The ballot proposal would continue the current rate of 1.2872 mills from 2027 through 2036. That rate is lower than the 1.3318 mills approved during the previous renewal in 2016.
What the millage supports
The AMA ESD has partnered with Alpena Public Schools, Alcona Community Schools, Atlanta Community Schools and Hillman Community Schools. Although the service district coordinates the funding, many of the programs supported by the levy are delivered within local school districts.
One major area is Pied Piper School and specialized classroom programming. The funding helps support Pied Piper programs for students with moderate-to-severe cognitive impairments, severe multiple impairments and autism. It also supports early childhood special education and emotional impairment programs housed in local districts.
The millage also helps pay for in-home and school-based special education services. Those services include physical, occupational and speech therapy, school psychological and social work services, behavioral support, Early On and early intervention programming, and post-secondary planning.
Funding returned to local districts
A third part of the proposal is financial assistance for participating public school districts. The AMA ESD uses millage revenue to reimburse districts and offset special education costs.
Since 2016, the district has distributed more than $12 million back to local public school districts, according to information provided for voters. The arrangement is intended to help districts manage the costs of special education services across the three-county region.
AMA ESD Superintendent Justin Gluesing said the district wants residents to understand how the money is used and which students and districts receive services.
“We want residents to understand how the revenue is used across our three-county service area. We are focused on making sure voters have a clear picture of what the millage funds, who receives those services, and how the revenue is distributed throughout the AMA ESD region.”
Why the proposal is for 10 years
The special education millage was first approved in 1989 and has been renewed four times. The proposed 2027-2036 renewal would follow the 10-year terms approved in the two previous renewals.
Gluesing said the district considered the cost of placing a proposal on the ballot while also seeking a term familiar to voters.
“The proposed renewal is for 10 years, which is consistent with the previous two renewals approved by voters. Given the election costs associated with placing a proposal on the ballot, we also wanted to be mindful of those expenses while maintaining a term that has been familiar to voters in past renewals.”
Residents seeking additional information about the renewal and the services provided by the AMA ESD can visit amaesd.org and select the “Millage Renewal” link at the top of the site.