Dearest reader,
Step 5 brings us to the broader financial picture for Coleman Community Schools.
For this step, I reviewed five years of district budgets and four years of audits. Nothing here called for another giant rabbit hole. The goal was simply to see whether the district's financial direction matched the story we were already seeing in enrollment, staffing and spending.
The most recent audited year, 2024–25, shows:
General Fund revenue: $9,464,913
General Fund expenditures: $9,717,877
Net change in fund balance: −$247,383
Ending fund balance: $2,309,962
So yes, Coleman spent more than it brought into the General Fund that year.
But context matters.
The district had actually budgeted for a larger draw on fund balance, meaning the final audited result came in better than the district had projected.
There was also one audit item worth mentioning.
Coleman's Food Service Fund carried cash above the federal three-month limit, largely because of increased federal Child Nutrition funding. The auditor recommended that the district continue monitoring the balance and budget it down over time.
That is something to watch.
It is not something I would turn into a scandal.
And that is really the theme of Step 5.
Coleman has some financial pressures. It has drawn down fund balance. It has seen enrollment decline. And, as the earlier steps showed, the makeup of its workforce and outside spending have changed considerably.
But the audits do not paint a picture of a district in obvious financial collapse.
The more important question is whether Coleman's spending priorities are keeping pace with the reality of a district serving substantially fewer students than it did a decade ago.
Budgets tell us what a district plans to do.
Audits tell us what actually happened.
The ledger needs both.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #WithReceiptsAndRespect #ColemanCommunitySchools #MidlandCounty #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #SchoolBudgets #SchoolAudits #Transparency #Accountability #PublicEducation #FollowTheMoney #TheLedger