📜 THE LEDGER OPENS: ROMEO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Dear Readers,
Today, Lady Budgetdown turns her attention to Romeo Community Schools (50190) and asks a familiar question:
What changed over ten years?
The answer is rather interesting.
From 2014–15 to 2024–25, Romeo's pupil count remained remarkably stable:
🎓 Pupil FTE: 5,409 → 5,335.30
Change: −73.70 students (−1.4%)
Yet during that same period:
💰 Total funding per pupil
$9,229 → $14,513
+$5,284 | +57.3%
📚 Instruction per pupil
$6,074 → $8,706
+$2,632 | +43.3%
📝 Instructional support per pupil
$1,031 → $1,662
+$631 | +61.2%
🏛� Business & administration per pupil
$803 → $1,404
+$601 | +74.8%
🔧 Operations & maintenance per pupil
$889 → $1,205
+$316 | +35.5%
And then there is this:
🍎 Average teacher salary
$68,440 → $70,607
+$2,167 | +3.2%
For context, cumulative inflation over the comparison period was approximately 35.83%.
That means Romeo presents an especially interesting ledger.
Enrollment changed very little. Total per-pupil funding rose substantially. Business and administration increased 74.8%. Instructional support increased 61.2%. Instruction increased 43.3%.
Average teacher salary?
3.2%.
Lady Budgetdown will leave readers to consider that contrast for themselves.
Because a budget does more than tell us how much money came in.
It tells us where the money went.
📜 Source: Michigan Department of Education financial data, 2014–15 and 2024–25. Inflation comparison uses CPI-U through the end of 2025.
Data compiled and visualized by Lady Budgetdown using publicly available records.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #RomeoCommunitySchools #RomeoSchools #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #EducationFunding #PublicSchools #Transparency #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect