The heads of Leelanau County's four school districts continue to search for ways around the budget woes looming on their horizons.

The discussion now seems to be focusing on "consolidation" versus "collaboration," according to this Leelanau Enterprise piece. Consolidation would mean an actual merger of the districts, while in the collaborative model the school districts would federate together to share some support functions while retaining their own individual governance and curricula.

One interesting fact mentioned by Leland Superintendent Mike Hartigan: of the 13 school districts in the state that do not levy the full 18 mills allowed by law, 3 are in Leelanau County. What does that say about the support for education in Leelanau County?