'A CRISIS THAT SHOULDN'T BE' | Superintendents, education advocates speak on growing consequences of Michigan's state budget delay

LANSING, Mich. — Wyoming Public Schools Superintendent Craig Hoekstra likely doesn't need more responsibilities, as he already commands a school district of roughly 4,000 students.

"I do what I do because of the people I do it with," Hoekstra said.

But now, he's just one of many school leaders around the state grappling with what to do without a state budget. While lawmakers in Lansing have blown past a statutory, yet toothless deadline to have a budget in place by July 1, school districts have already had to make financial decisions as the academic year has gotten underway.

"We're 72 days past the deadline," Hoekstra said on Wednesday, 72 days after June 30. "So every day after that, my optimism shrinks."

Simply the delay up to this point, leaders say, has had its own consequences.

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