📜 LADY BUDGETDOWN: FENTON AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: FOLLOW THE COMPENSATION
We've looked at Fenton's ten-year financial picture. We've looked at staffing. Now it's time to open another public record:
2024 EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION
Fenton Area Public Schools reports 15 employees with Medicare Earnings of $100,000 or more:
11 Administrators
4 Teachers
And before we go any further, an important distinction:
These numbers are not all "salary."
Fenton specifically reports Medicare Earnings, along with employer-paid compensation components including FICA, Retirement, Life, LTD, Health, Dental and Vision. Together, those components produce the district's reported Total Compensation.
So Lady Budgetdown is going to call the numbers exactly what Fenton calls them. 📜
💰 THE BIG PICTURE
For all 15 employees combined:
Medicare Earnings:
$1,708,731.41
Total Compensation:
$2,944,366.56
Difference:
$1,235,635.15
That works out to an average of:
$113,915.43 in Medicare Earnings
and
$196,291.10 in Total Compensation
per employee included in this report.
That difference is why I continue showing both numbers.
The amount appearing under Medicare Earnings does not represent the full cost reported by the district for that employee.
🏛� THE ADMINISTRATORS
Fenton's report contains 11 administrators above the $100,000 Medicare Earnings threshold.
The five highest Medicare Earnings figures shown are:
$149,017.19 → $266,365.25 Total Compensation
$129,830.43 → $206,675.67
$120,144.90 → $212,685.93
$118,125.13 → $190,983.07
$114,766.66 → $208,066.21
You'll notice I'm not giving you names or titles such as superintendent, principal or director.
There's a reason.
The report doesn't give them to us.
Fenton identifies these employees simply as "Administrator."
I'm not going to guess who is who simply to make the post more interesting.
🍎 FOUR TEACHERS ALSO APPEAR
The four teachers reported above the threshold had Medicare Earnings of:
$108,785.14 - Total Compensation $194,782.76
$106,858.66 - Total Compensation $168,307.10
$105,054.76 - Total Compensation $189,597.84
$102,062.90 - Total Compensation $162,601.37
Again, these are the district's reported Medicare Earnings and Total Compensation - not figures Lady Budgetdown created.
📜 THE TAKEAWAY
Fenton's 15 employees in this report collectively had $1.71 million in Medicare Earnings, while their reported Total Compensation reached $2.94 million.
That's approximately $1.24 million beyond Medicare Earnings when the district's additional reported compensation components are included.
Does that automatically mean those compensation levels are too high?
No.
Does it automatically mean they're appropriate?
No.
That's not what a public record tells us.
It tells us what was reported.
And that's why these records belong in the conversation.
Public compensation isn't inherently scandalous.
Public compensation also isn't off-limits.
It is simply public information - and context matters.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #FentonAreaPublicSchools #FentonSchools #GeneseeCounty #PublicCompensation #EducationTransparency #PublicRecords