Superintendent's Message
March 13, 2025
Dear LPS families,
As some of you know, I have been in Washington, DC, advocating on behalf of our school and schools across the country who receive Federal Impact Aid (FIA). FIA is a source of unrestricted federal funding that is sent directly to schools from the Department of Education who have federal properties in their district boundaries for which they cannot collect taxes. It is essentially the government's attempt to pay its tax bill and is currently only funded at 7% of its obligation. (Wouldn't it be great if we only had to pay 7% of our tax bill??)
The money that LPS receives accounts for over 9% of our total budget and is crucial to our ability to maintain staff, small classes, and programming.
The 50% reduction in staff at the Department of Education and other recent developments at the federal level that have ramifications for public schools has many school leaders nervous, including me. We have typically received our payment at the beginning of February and have not yet received it. With the ever changing narrative at the federal level and day-to-day surprises, it has become difficult to predict and plan for the remainder of this year let alone for the next year or two.
If you are concerned, have questions, or would like to make your thoughts known, please reach out to our representatives. We heard from our congress men and woman that they want to hear from their constituents and the phones were busy while we were in their offices. This link will take you directly to our professional organization where you can advocate directly for the Department of Education and Federal Impact Aid.
I have shared our Michigan representatives' contact information on our website under Superintendent's Message and am including it below as well.
Thank you for whatever you can do to advocate for our special public school. Go Comets!”
Stephanie
Congressman Jack Bergman
Represents the Michigan 1st Congressional district in DC
Washington, DC Office
566 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-4735
Traverse City Office
1396 Douglas Drive, Suite 22B
Traverse City, MI 49696
231-944-7633
Senator Elissa Slotkin
Represents Michigan in DC
Washington, DC
SH-825B/C Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
P# 202-224-4822
Traverse City, MI
3335 South Airport Road West
Suite 6B
Traverse City, MI 49684
Senator Gary Peters
Represents Michigan in DC
Traverse City
109 E. Front Street
Suite 215B
Traverse City, MI 49684
Phone: (231) 947-7773
Washington, D.C.
Hart Senate Office Building
Suite 724
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6221
sarah_shapiro@peters.senate.gov
Congressman Tim Walberg
Represents the Michigan 5th Congressional district in DC and chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee
Washington, D.C. Office
2266 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6276
Fax: (202) 225-6281
Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:30PM