NORWAY — Norway-Vulcan Superintendent Louis Steigerwald had few answers for the school board about the effect COVID-19 would have on the district, even after a two-hour meeting with a liaison in Lansing.

“There are a lot more questions out there than there are answers,” Steigerwald said.

One of the first questions posed during that meeting related to comments made by Sen. Wayne Schmidt, a Republican lawmaker who claimed Tuesday that K-12 schools could see a 25% cut in state funding because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The liaison said he doesn’t know where that number comes from,” Steigerwald said.

But Steigerwald acknowledged Wednesday, “The reality is the state is running out of money.”

“The big question facing everyone right now is whether they’ll get fully funded this year. The answer is still unknown,” Steigerwald said.

Though House Democrats announced Tuesday a new COVID-19 relief bill with more than $3 trillion in aid for state and local governments, Steigerwald noted there was little chance the bill would gain Senate approval.

“We were told to prepare for $250 to $1,000 in cuts per student all the way up to Schmidt’s 25 percent cut,” Steigerwald said. “That’s what we’ll have to do.”

Steigerwald also does not expect the state to have a budget prepared by Oct. 1, telling board members the school may have to pass its own budget based on the information available at that time.

“We’ll have to adapt, if and when that happens,” Steigerwald said.

The superintendent encouraged others to contact senators and representatives to voice their comments or concerns.

“There is no way, with the level of cuts across the nation and in the state of Michigan, that education can look like what we want it to look like,” Steigerwald said. “The only people who can ‘print money’ is the federal government.”

In other business, the board:

— Hired Tony Mendina as a full-time middle school math teacher.

— Supported the 2020-21 Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District budget, which set general fund revenues at $4,088,457, an increase of $154,527 from 2019. The DIISD anticipated expenditures would amount to $4,087,139, or $154,097 more than 2019.