👑 CHIPPEWA VALLEY SCHOOLS: LET'S LOOK AT THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE NUMBERS
Well, Chippewa Valley has certainly kept Lady Budgetdown's ledger busy. 🪶
We've talked about money. We've talked about bonds.
Now let's look at something else:
Staffing.
I pulled the same ten-year staffing comparison I've been using for other Michigan districts: 2014–15 vs. 2024–25, using staffing FTE from MI School Data/CEPI.
And remember: FTE means staffing capacity, not necessarily the number of individual people employed.
First, the students.
🔴 Pupil Count
16,472 → 14,276
Down 2,196 pupils — 13.33%
Now let's follow the staffing.
🟢 Administrators
69.62 → 75.50 FTE
Up 5.88 — 8.45%
🔴 Teachers
676.70 → 664.16 FTE
Down 12.54 — 1.85%
🟢 Paraprofessionals
84.40 → 103.33 FTE
Up 18.93 — 22.43%
🔴 Non-Instructional Staff
481.21 → 438.24 FTE
Down 42.97 — 8.93%
Altogether:
🔴 Total Staff FTE
1,311.93 → 1,281.23
Down 30.70 — 2.34%
And that is where Lady Budgetdown's eyebrow goes up just a little. 👀
Over this ten-year period:
Pupils fell 13.33%.
Total staffing FTE fell only 2.34%.
But even that doesn't tell the whole story, because the staffing changes weren't evenly distributed.
The district served 2,196 fewer pupils.
Teacher FTE decreased slightly.
Non-instructional FTE decreased.
Paraprofessional FTE increased.
And administrative FTE increased 8.45%.
Now, before anyone starts sharpening the pitchforks in either direction:
These numbers do not tell us whether any particular position was necessary or unnecessary.
They don't tell us what services changed over ten years, what student needs changed, what programs were added, or why the district made individual staffing decisions.
What they do tell us is something much simpler:
The district got considerably smaller. Its overall staffing footprint did not shrink at nearly the same rate. And some staffing categories actually grew.
That's not a verdict.
That's a receipt.
And receipts are where the questions begin. 👑🪶
Source: MI School Data / CEPI — Registry of Educational Personnel (REP), Fall 2014 & Fall 2024. Staffing figures are FTE.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #ChippewaValleySchools #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #SchoolStaffing #EducationFunding #TheReceipts