👑 LADY BUDGETDOWN | NOVI: ANOTHER LOOK AT THE ADMINISTRATIVE LEDGER
A reader recently sent Lady Budgetdown a detailed analysis of Novi Community School District's finances, administrative structure and compensation.
It contained several lines of inquiry worth examining.
But you know the rule around here: We don't publish something simply because someone sends it to us. We verify it.
So I went backward, to Novi's records from before Superintendent Ben Mainka took office, and then worked forward to the district's current administrative structure.
And there is a story here.
📜 FIRST, AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION
Not every title that appears today represents an entirely new administrative position.
Some positions existed before 2022 under different or substantially similar titles. Some responsibilities were reorganized. Some positions appear to have been split or moved beneath different departments.
So Lady Budgetdown is not going to simply count every changed title as a "new administrator."
We are interested in actual administrative expansion.
And after making those distinctions, Novi's administrative structure still deserves a closer look.
🏛� THE CURRENT STRUCTURE
Novi's own current administration directory shows an extensive district-level operation.
At the top are four executive administrators:
• Superintendent
• Assistant Superintendent - Teaching & Learning
• Assistant Superintendent - Talent Management & Development
• Assistant Superintendent - Business & Operations
Below them sits a substantial department-level administrative structure covering finance, maintenance, employee relations, mental health and wellness, safety and security, medical services, elementary and secondary education, special education, communications, activities and other functions.
Federal staffing data provide another useful measurement:
Novi reported 23 district-administrator FTEs in 2024-25.
For comparison, the analysis we reviewed identified:
Novi: 23 district administrators - 6,770 students
Northville: 14 district administrators - roughly 7,000 students
Troy: 24 district administrators - 12,283 students
In other words, Troy serves roughly 5,500 more students than Novi while reporting only one additional district administrator.
That doesn't automatically mean Novi has too many administrators.
But it certainly makes the structure a legitimate budget question.
💰 THEN FOLLOW THE SPENDING
Novi reported approximately:
FY2024-25 actual
General Administration: $812,555
School Administration: $5.351 million
The FY2025-26 budget includes:
General Administration: $727,490
School Administration: $6.742 million
That School Administration line represents an increase of approximately $1.39 million, about 26% from the prior year's actual spending.
Meanwhile, Novi's FY2025-26 General Fund budget projects approximately $106.1 million in revenue against $109.8 million in expenditures.
That's roughly a $3.73 million operating gap.
And personnel matters enormously here: approximately 85.9% of Novi's FY2024-25 General Fund expenditures were personnel expenditures.
📜 WHICH BRINGS US FULL CIRCLE.
Novi is now trying to reduce personnel costs.
The district and Novi Education Association have a Voluntary Separation Program for eligible veteran educators.
The incentive?
$60,000 per participating employee.
At least 10 employees must participate. The program is capped at 40. At maximum participation, that's $2.4 million in separation incentives.
And here's the part that caught Lady Budgetdown's attention:
The separation window reportedly runs August 21 through October 5, 2026.
Novi students begin school August 31.
That means eligible experienced educators could potentially leave after students are already back in their classrooms.
The program may ultimately produce legitimate recurring savings. Veteran educators generally cost more than newer employees, and reducing recurring personnel expenses can help address a structural budget problem.
But the sequence deserves scrutiny.
Novi expanded and reorganized its district-level administrative structure.
Its current federal staffing data show 23 district administrators. School Administration spending increased substantially.
The district moved into projected deficit spending. And now part of the solution involves paying veteran educators $60,000 each to leave.
That leaves me with a very simple question:
Before paying experienced educators to walk out the door, has every layer of central administration been subjected to the same level of scrutiny?
Because state funding pressures are real.
Inflation is real.
Personnel costs are real.
But local spending decisions are real, too.
And when a district has to decide where to cut, the community deserves to know how it decided what - and who — was essential.
👑 With receipts and respect.
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