Dearest reader,
Well.
Lady Budgetdown has finished Step 2 and Step 2A for Breckenridge Community Schools, and after all that green ink in Step 1, the staffing ledger apparently decided we were getting far too comfortable.
Because these numbers tell a very different story.
Over the decade, Breckenridge's pupil count declined from 770.00 to 631.66.
That's −17.97%.
So naturally, the next question was:
What happened to staffing?
Teachers declined from 41.18 FTE to 32.20 FTE.
That's −21.81%.
In other words, teacher staffing fell at a somewhat faster rate than enrollment.
But keep turning the page.
Instructional Aides:
7.00 → 0.00 FTE
−100.00%
Instructional Support:
1.00 → 0.00 FTE
−100.00%
Guidance:
1.00 → 1.00 FTE
No change
School Support:
6.25 → 2.00 FTE
−68.00%
Student Support:
9.28 → 5.00 FTE
−46.12%
Other Support:
29.52 → 11.81 FTE
−59.99%
That is quite a bit of red ink for one little table.
Then Lady Budgetdown moved to Step 2A — administration.
Total administrators went from:
4.10 → 4.00 FTE
A decrease of just 2.44%.
But underneath that total, the composition changed.
LEA/District Administrators:
1.20 → 1.00 FTE
−16.67%
School Administrators:
2.90 → 3.00 FTE
+3.45%
And then there is the number that really made me put the spectacles back on:
Total staff.
2014–15: 104.33 FTE
2024–25: 61.26 FTE
That's a decline of 41.28%.
So over the same decade:
Pupils: −17.97%
Teachers: −21.81%
Total Administrators: −2.44%
Total Staff: −41.28%
That doesn't automatically tell us whether any individual staffing decision was right or wrong.
But it certainly tells us something about where the reductions occurred.
Breckenridge lost nearly 18% of its pupils, but total staffing fell by more than 41%.
Teacher FTE declined by nearly 22%.
Several support categories fell dramatically.
Meanwhile, total administrative FTE remained almost unchanged.
And that, dearest reader, is precisely why Lady Budgetdown doesn't stop after looking at how much money a district receives or spends.
Step 1 told us the dollars increased faster than our inflation benchmark.
Step 2 tells us the workforce became considerably smaller.
Both things can be true at the same time.
The ledger doesn't choose which receipt it likes better.
It keeps both. 📜
With receipts and respect.
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