State Education Board removes 4 districts from fiscal distress

The state Board of Education voted Monday to remove four school districts from fiscal distress classification.

The board voted unanimously for the Alpena, Brinkley, Hartford and Hermitage school districts to be removed from fiscal distress. They had all been classified under it for the 2012-2013 school year.

The board voted on all four districts at once after little discussion, but chairman Brenda Gullett said the brevity with which the item was handled was only because many agenda items remained on the schedule Monday.

"This is not an attempt to avoid recognizing the hard work that these districts have done," she said. "We are very proud of them. We are just absolutely in awe that they have done this ... We thank them for that and they have our respect for that."

The Department of Education said it "conducted on-site technical evaluations and assistance, off-site assistance, and analysis of the financial status" of the districts and found that each had corrected "all criteria for being removed from fiscal distress."

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