Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills schools will not receive $781 per student in new annual funding after Oakland County voters narrowly defeated the Oakland Schools enhancement millage on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

The 1.5-mill proposal failed with 51.1% voting no (169,832) and 48.9% voting yes (163,120), a margin of 6,712 votes, according to The Oakland Press.

The defeat compounds budget pressure on Birmingham Public Schools, which laid off approximately 15 employees on May 22 after enrollment dropped by about 100 students. That enrollment loss cost the district an estimated $1.4 million in state per-pupil funding. Two of those layoffs hit Groves High School teachers.

BPS Superintendent Embekka Roberson said in June that "state funding increases continue to lag behind inflationary costs," according to The Groves Scriptor. The millage would have provided unrestricted dollars districts could spend on teacher salaries, building improvements, equipment or mental health services.

The measure would have generated an estimated $125.8 million in its first year and distributed funds to all 28 Oakland County public school districts and charter schools over six years. For homeowners, the cost worked out to about $150 per year for a home with $100,000 in taxable value.

Oakland Schools Superintendent Kenneth Gutman said in a statement to The Oakland Press that the district respects the outcome and remains committed to supporting local school districts and their students.

The Bloomfield Hills Schools Board of Education voted on Feb. 23 to approve a resolution requesting the millage be placed on the ballot, according to meeting records. The Oakland Schools Board followed with a 3-1 vote on March 24 to put the question to voters, Downtown Publications reported, after school boards representing a majority of the county's student population passed supporting resolutions.

Oakland County remains one of the few large Michigan counties without an enhancement millage. Wayne County adopted a 1.9-mill levy in 2016, and Macomb County voters approved 1.9 mills in March 2020, according to The Oakland Press. Waterford Schools Superintendent Adam Martin told the same outlet in July, "We are trying to stay regionally competitive with Wayne and Macomb in a really difficult market where there aren't enough teachers."

Neither Birmingham Public Schools nor Bloomfield Hills Schools has announced how the loss will affect 2026-27 budget planning. Oakland Schools has not indicated whether it will attempt another enhancement millage in a future election cycle.