SAGINAW PUBLIC SCHOOLS: AND THEN I OPENED THE CHECK REGISTER...
Dear readers, there are rabbit holes... and then there are 419-page check registers.
Naturally, I opened it. 🪶
After removing bond/construction spending, health benefits, energy, and payroll/retirement remittances, the five largest vendors accounted for more than $11.63 million in payments during 2024–25.
At the top of the ledger:
First Student — $4.22 million
ESS Midwest (PCMI) — $3.49 million
Gordon Food Service — $2.27 million
Presidio Networked Solutions — $1.04 million
From the Heart Educational Services — $615,400
And tucked elsewhere among those 419 pages were a couple more numbers worth noting.
Positive Behavior Supports Corp.: $506,220.
Legal fees to Miller Johnson and Miller Canfield: $148,451.29.
For that legal total, I deliberately excluded the collection/garnishment attorneys. Different purpose, different pile in Lady Budgetdown's ledger.
None of this means the expenditures were improper. Transportation must happen. Students must eat. Districts contract for staffing, technology and specialized services.
But after our financial review showed $15.01 million in Professional & Technical Purchased Services, I wanted to see what the check register could tell us about the district's outside contracting.
Well.
The ledger has begun answering. 👀
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #SaginawPublicSchools #SchoolSpending #SchoolTransparency #FollowTheMoney #PublicRecords #TheReceipts