📜 LADY BUDGETDOWN: ST. CHARLES: FOLLOW THE MONEY
The St. Charles ledger is open. And this ten-year comparison has quite a story to tell. 🔎
From 2014–15 to 2024–25, St. Charles Community Schools saw its average pupil count fall from:
961 → 695.86
That's a decline of:
−27.6%
Roughly one out of every four pupils represented in the 2014–15 average count is no longer reflected in the 2024–25 count.
So what happened to funding and spending per pupil?
It went the other direction.
💰 TOTAL FUNDING PER PUPIL
$8,916 → $15,286
+71.4%
That's 35.6 percentage points above our 35.83% inflation benchmark.
📚 INSTRUCTION PER PUPIL
$6,391 → $9,191
+43.8%
8.0 points above inflation
🔎 INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PER PUPIL
$507 → $893
+76.1%
40.3 points above inflation
🏛� BUSINESS & ADMINISTRATION PER PUPIL
$1,167 → $2,090
+79.1%
43.3 points above inflation
🔧 OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE PER PUPIL
And here's the largest increase in the categories we're tracking:
$622 → $1,380
+121.9%
That's 86.0 percentage points above inflation.
But then we reach a number moving in the opposite direction.
🍎 AVERAGE TEACHER SALARY
$63,933 → $56,108
−12.2%
That's a decline of $7,825 in actual dollars, before we even account for inflation.
Compared with the 35.83% inflation benchmark, the change is approximately:
−48.1 percentage points.
📜 THE TAKEAWAY
Over these ten years, St. Charles had considerably fewer pupils, while every per-pupil spending category we're tracking increased faster than inflation.
Total funding per pupil rose 71.4%.
Operations & Maintenance per pupil rose 121.9%.
Business & Administration per pupil rose 79.1%.
Instructional Support per pupil rose 76.1%.
Meanwhile, reported Average Teacher Salary didn't simply fail to keep pace with inflation.
It declined.
Does one graphic tell us why these changes occurred?
No.
And we're not going to pretend it does.
But when enrollment falls 27.6%, funding per pupil rises 71.4%, several spending categories substantially outpace inflation, and reported average teacher salary moves backward, that's enough to tell Lady Budgetdown:
There's more of this ledger worth opening. 🪶
We follow the numbers first.
Then we find out where they lead.
With receipts and respect.
St. Charles Community Schools
#LadyBudgetdown #StCharlesSchools #SaginawCounty #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #PublicRecords #FollowTheMoney