📜 LADY BUDGETDOWN: FENTON AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Another district. Another ten-year ledger.
This time, we're staying in Genesee County and looking at Fenton Area Public Schools (25100). As always, we're comparing the same measures over the same period:
2014–15 vs. 2024–25
And Fenton gives us an interesting combination:
Fewer students. More funding per pupil. Significant growth in several spending categories. But teacher salaries that did not keep pace with inflation. 🔎
🎒 ENROLLMENT
Fenton's average pupil count declined from:
3,399 → 2,864.73
That's approximately:
534 fewer pupils - a 15.7% decline.
Now let's look at what happened financially over that same period.
💰 TOTAL FUNDING PER PUPIL
2014–15: $9,218
2024–25: $15,101
Increase:
+$5,883 - or +63.8%
Our ten-year inflation benchmark is approximately 35.83%.
That puts Fenton's growth in total funding per pupil approximately:
28.0 percentage points above inflation.
But where the money is being spent is where this gets more interesting.
📚 INSTRUCTION PER PUPIL
$6,157 → $9,528
Increase:
+$3,371 - or +54.8%
That's approximately 18.9 percentage points above inflation.
🔎 INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PER PUPIL
$982 → $2,181
Increase:
+$1,199 - or +122.1%
That's approximately:
86.3 percentage points above inflation.
Of all the categories in this comparison, Instructional Support stands out the most. That doesn't tell us why it increased. It tells us where to look next.
And Lady Budgetdown would much rather investigate the reason than invent one. 😉
🏫 BUSINESS & ADMINISTRATION PER PUPIL
$977 → $1,513
Increase:
+$536 - or +54.9%
Approximately 19.0 percentage points above inflation.
🔧 OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE PER PUPIL
$774 → $1,250
Increase:
+$476 - or +61.5%
Approximately 25.7 percentage points above inflation.
🍎 AND THEN THERE ARE TEACHER SALARIES
Fenton's average teacher salary increased from:
$66,028 → $73,140
That's:
+$7,112 - or +10.8%.
Compared with approximately 35.83% inflation, average teacher salary growth was:
25.1 percentage points BELOW inflation.
And I think that contrast deserves attention.
Over the same ten-year period in which:
Enrollment fell 15.7%...
Total funding per pupil rose 63.8%...
Instruction per pupil rose 54.8%...
Instructional Support per pupil rose 122.1%...
Business & Administration per pupil rose 54.9%...
Operations & Maintenance per pupil rose 61.5%...
Average teacher salary increased:
10.8%.
That doesn't tell us that any particular spending increase was good or bad.
And it certainly doesn't tell us what caused that 122.1% increase in Instructional Support spending per pupil.
Those are questions for the next set of records.
But this first comparison gives us a very clear place to start looking.
Because that's the point of following a ledger:
The first set of numbers doesn't always give you the answer.
Sometimes it tells you which question to ask next.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #FentonAreaPublicSchools #FentonSchools #GeneseeCounty #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #FollowTheMoney