Dearest Readers,
Today, Lady Budgetdown turns her attention to Novi Community School District (63100) and asks a fairly simple question:
How has the district changed over the last decade, not only in students, but in the people employed to serve them?
Using Michigan School Data staffing and enrollment records, Lady Budgetdown compared 2014–15 with 2024–25.
And Novi presents an interesting picture.
🎓 STUDENT ENROLLMENT
2014–15: 6,407 students
2024–25: 6,775 students
That is an increase of 368 students, or 5.7%.
Now compare that with staffing.
👥 STAFF HEADCOUNT
2014–15: 1,388 employees
2024–25: 1,954 employees
Increase: 566 employees, or 40.8%.
But before anyone runs away with that number, there is an important distinction.
Headcount is not the same thing as full-time equivalent staffing.
The headcount figures include day-to-day substitute teachers and substitute paraprofessionals/aides. So Lady Budgetdown also examined FTE, which gives us another, and arguably very important part of the picture.
📊 STAFF FTE
2014–15: 691.56 FTE
2024–25: 836.56 FTE
Increase: 145.00 FTE, or 21.0%.
So over the same decade:
Enrollment: +5.7%
Staff headcount: +40.8%
Staff FTE: +21.0%
And where did the staffing increases occur?
🏛� Administrators
Headcount: 35 → 41 (+17.1%)
FTE: 35.10 → 41.00 (+16.8%)
🍎 Teachers
Headcount: 449 → 558 (+24.3%)
FTE: 429.50 → 487.63 (+13.5%)
📚 Paraprofessionals/Aides
Headcount: 48 → 104 (+116.7%)
FTE: 43.93 → 91.92 (+109.3%)
🏫 Non-Instructional Staff
Headcount: 536 → 851 (+58.8%)
FTE: 183.03 → 216.01 (+18.0%)
That paraprofessional/aide increase particularly stands out. Their FTE more than doubled over the decade, from 43.93 to 91.92.
There is another number worth noticing.
While teacher headcount increased 24.3%, teacher FTE increased 13.5%. That difference is precisely why looking at only one staffing measure can give readers an incomplete picture.
None of these numbers, standing alone, tell us whether Novi has too many employees, too few employees, or exactly the staffing it needs.
They do, however, tell us something worth examining:
Novi's enrollment grew 5.7% over this period, while its overall staffing footprint grew considerably faster. 21.0% measured by FTE and 40.8% measured by headcount.
Why?
Changes in student needs? Special education services? Programming? Class sizes? Support services? Staffing models? Some combination of all of them?
Those are the questions the numbers invite.
Because Lady Budgetdown's job isn't to tell you what to think about the numbers.
It is to make sure you can see them.
Data compiled and visualized by Lady Budgetdown using publicly available Michigan School Data records.
With receipts and respect.