YPSILANTI, MI - Gov. Rick Snyder acknowledged some of the financial challenges that come with school consolidation during a visit to Ypsilanti Community Schools on Thursday, June 28.

Ypsilanti Community Schools, which enrolls about 3,900 students, formed in the 2013-14 school year from the consolidation of the financially and academically struggling Willow Run and Ypsilanti public school districts.

"Doing a school consolidation is one of the most challenging things. To be open with you, we probably need more of that to happen in our state," Snyder said, adding that YCS could advise other schools on navigating that process.

Snyder met with Ypsilanti Community High School's robotics team before signing off on the 2019 education budget.

The new school district took on a combined $18 million in debt from the two former school districts, and YCS is continuing to make $2-million annual payments on that debt.

The district is looking at $3.1 million in deficit spending for its $55.96 million 2018-19 budget. That would leave the school district with $1.04 million in its reserves by the end of the coming school year.

Snyder said he appreciates the difficulty those debt payments present, and he noted the increase to the per pupil foundation allowance included in the state's 2019 budget will provide more funds for YCS, even if the district's enrollment remains flat.

YCS currently receives $7,943 per pupil from the state, and that should increase by about $200 per pupil in the 2018-19 school year.

After years of declining enrollment, YCS saw a 121-student increase in the 2017-18 school year, compared to the year before. The school district's 2018-19 budget assumes a drop in enrollment of 50 students.