Well, River Rouge... Lady Budgetdown has reached Step 3.
And this particular page of the ledger required a second cup of tea.
River Rouge Community Schools' own 2024–25 compensation report lists 37 employees with W-2 Medicare wages exceeding $100,000.
Those 37 employees account for:
🪶 $4,971,695.65 in W-2 Medicare wages
🪶 $7,662,704.34 in total compensation
Yes. $7.66 million.
Now, that includes teachers, principals and other school-level positions, so I separated out the central administration and executive leadership positions for a closer look.
At the top:
Superintendent
$483,314.38 → $705,172.83 total compensation
Deputy Superintendent
$316,670.53 → $485,392.21 total compensation
Director/Supervisor
$291,788.36 → $452,448.75 total compensation
Another Director/Supervisor reaches $241,802.92 in total compensation, while the Special Ed Supervisor reaches $184,063.26 and the Academic Engagement Officer reaches $185,102.51.
And this is where Lady Budgetdown simply sets down her quill for a moment.
Because numbers this large do not require embellishment.
They require questions.
River Rouge had 2,760.32 pupils in our 2024–25 Step 1 ledger.
Against that backdrop, $7.66 million in total compensation for the district's 37 employees whose Medicare wages exceeded $100,000 is a number taxpayers deserve to see plainly.
No pearl clutching required.
The receipt is quite capable of speaking for itself. 🪶
With receipts & respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #RiverRouge #RiverRougeCommunitySchools #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #SchoolSpending #SchoolTransparency #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect