Dearest reader,
A new ledger is open.
This time, we are looking at Birch Run Area Schools, and as always, we begin with the decade before we begin with conclusions.
From 2014–15 to 2024–25, Birch Run's enrollment was remarkably stable:
1,813.00 → 1,789.04 pupils
A decline of just 23.96 pupils, or 1.32%.
But the financial numbers moved considerably.
Over the same decade:
All-sources revenue per pupil:
$8,730 → $13,875 (+58.93%)
Total instruction per pupil:
$5,442 → $8,411 (+54.56%)
Instructional support per pupil:
$727 → $1,103 (+51.72%)
Business & administration per pupil:
$1,118 → $1,663 (+48.75%)
And then there is operations & maintenance:
$625 → $1,315 per pupil, an increase of 110.40%.
That is more than double over the decade and roughly 74.57 percentage points above our 35.83% inflation benchmark.
Teachers saw a substantial nominal increase as well.
Average teacher salary went from $55,933 to $72,715, up 30.00%.
But inflation over our comparison period was 35.83%, meaning average teacher salary growth still finished about 5.83 percentage points behind inflation.
And that makes Birch Run interesting.
This isn't a district that lost a quarter of its students while spending climbed.
Enrollment barely changed.
Revenue per pupil rose substantially. Instruction spending per pupil rose substantially. Administration spending per pupil rose. Operations and maintenance spending per pupil more than doubled.
Yet average teacher salary still didn't quite keep pace with inflation.
That doesn't tell us something is wrong.
It tells us where to look next.
Where did Birch Run's additional resources go over the decade, and how did its staffing change while enrollment remained almost perfectly level?
That is what Step 2 will tell us.
The ledger is open.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #WithReceiptsAndRespect #BirchRunAreaSchools #BirchRun #SaginawCounty #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #TeacherPay #PublicEducation #Transparency #Accountability #FollowTheMoney #TheLedger