Leaders of Flint’s school district have asked state lawmakers to pay off $56 million in debt, according to The Detroit News. The call for a state payoff of district debt comes three years after Flint Community Schools received $156 million in COVID-19 relief funds, or over $51,000 per pupil.

Flint Community Schools received $51,193 per pupil in various relief measures in the COVID-19 era, more than any other district in the state. Benton Harbor Area Schools was second at $29,502 per pupil.

“The state has a process to prevent insolvency and should enforce the process instead of immediately bailing out the district,” said Molly Macek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Simply bailing them out is unfair to other districts that work hard to balance their budgets and follow the proper process to avoid insolvency.”

The district argues that COVID funds came with restrictions, which means it cannot use them to pay off debt.

Macek said that while the district cannot directly use COVID money to pay off debt, it could have devoted some of its state revenue to the debt while using federal money to make up the difference.

Flint district officials instead took out additional loans. They also used a substantial portion of COVID funds for large pay raises and gave each district employee a $20,500 bonus. That raises future costs, as it increases salary expectations for the years to come.

Flint Beat provides a breakdown of salaries the money supported, including $8,662,500 for “COVID retention payment for staff.”

Principals and assistant principals received $1.8 million, while the superintendent and assistant superintendent were given $484,386. Special education staff received $1,072,500.

The district spent $15,000 for supplies and materials such as uniforms, shoes, coats, hats, gloves and school supplies for 300 homeless students. The spending, which the district said was “to ensure equity and access to education,” came out to $50 per student.

Flint schools also purchased 4,200 Chromebooks and 3,000 iPads, though the district had only 2,989 students in 2022. It also gave $10,000 stipends to 30 virtual school mentors.

School officials did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Wayne State University is one of 68 universities and colleges in the U.S. to still require at least some students to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination, according to the group No College Mandates. WSU, which also requires a flu shot, is the only university or college in Michigan to require a COVID shot.

The requirement does not apply to everybody in the WSU community.

“COVID-19 vaccines are no longer required for faculty, staff and students, except for those living in university housing and students and faculty involved in clinical programs,” per the school’s covid policy.

Students may apply for a medical or religious exemption. To find the COVID exemption request form, students must look on the university webpage labeled Moving into Campus Housing.

The exemption form requires a statement from a doctor that the student cannot tolerate the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The above-named individual from Wayne State University is under my care. I have reviewed the Covid-19 vaccine recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and request the following medical exemption based on a true medical contraindication as outlined by the CDC,” the declination form states.

The doctor must affirm that the student has already had a reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine or is allergic to one of its ingredients. Students may apply for a temporary rather than a permanent exemption.

Wayne State also says students who do not have the vaccination may be subject to public health protocols, which means they could be separated from the rest of campus. It is not clear how often the university has granted religious exemptions, as it did not respond to an email seeking comment.

CapCon reported in March 2023 that the University of Michigan announced it would require vaccinations for students living on campus in the fall. U-M later dropped the requirement before the fall term began.