LANSING — Northern Michigan school districts say that unexpected state funding cuts are leaving them with two options — cancel programming, or put up hundreds of thousands of dollars in unplanned expenses.

Great Start Collaboratives, or GSC’s, previously received close to $20 million in support statewide — that was slashed to zero this year, leaving some districts to cancel services for kids and families.

“We’re at a slow shutdown,” said Cari O’Connor, Montcalm Area ISD’s Associate Superintendent of Early Childhood Services.

“There are many things that we had to stop completely because we didn’t have the funds to sustain,” she said. “We have families that continue to reach out and talk about the devastating loss, the elimination of this funding and the supports.”

For parents, GSC’s foc

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