Districts also choose to end contracting arrangements. This year, there were eight districts that had used contractors for providing one of the three main noninstructional services but now have complete in-house provision. This is identical to the trend of last year when eight districts took services back in-house as well.
Graphic 8: Districts that Brought Services Back In-House
Litchfield, Parma-Western, and Watervliet each moved their services in-house in the hopes of saving money in the coming fiscal year. Wayland and Webberville decided to hire an in-house food manager. Potterville was contracting for only one bus route and, after restructuring transportation services, no longer required the route for which the district originally contracted. Mayville cited political pressure on the school board as the paramount reason for hiring an in-house food service manager.
An important note of explanation regarding insourcing of a formerly privatized support service should be said for the Watersmeet district. At the deadline for this survey, Watersmeet had allowed a contract for custodial services to expire and had not yet decided whether to sign a new contract with a custodial firm or hire two new employees to take over custodial duties. Though at the survey's deadline the district was not counted as having custodial privatization, it may very well continue with a contractor for custodial services this year, just as last year. Watersmeet is still included in the count of districts employing privatization because of the third-party provision of transportation services it continues to utilize throughout the coming fiscal year.
Lastly, Dryden and Lake Fenton chose to insource some services this year but have kept private provision of other services.