👑 LADY BUDGETDOWN | NOVI: ONE FINAL THOUGHT FROM TONIGHT
There was one word used repeatedly during tonight's Novi Board of Education meeting:
"Misinformation."
The superintendent referenced misinformation.
Trustee Beaudoin repeatedly referenced misinformation. She also said salary and compensation information being shared online was inaccurate.
Yet through all of that discussion, something was missing:
What, specifically, is the misinformation?
Which number is wrong?
Which calculation is wrong?
Which document was misrepresented?
What is the correct number?
Lady Budgetdown did not hear anyone answer those questions tonight. Calling something "misinformation" is not the same as demonstrating that it is misinformation.
If Lady Budgetdown reported:
X
and X is incorrect, then show:
X is wrong. Y is correct. Here is the source.
That is a rebuttal.
And the compensation discussion deserves the same standard.
The salary and compensation figures discussed on this page came from Novi's own publicly available transparency records. If Novi believes those figures have been interpreted incorrectly, explain the distinction. Salary? Benefits? Retirement contributions? Total compensation? One-time payments?
Lady Budgetdown will happily publish a correction when the records establish that one is warranted.
But you cannot publish financial information, object when someone examines it, and simply call the resulting discussion "misinformation" without identifying what is actually false. Especially when it literally reposts what you put on your website.
Trustee Beaudoin also defended the superintendent's compensation, saying that as one of the seven board members responsible for evaluating him, she could assure the public that he has earned his salary.
She is entitled to that opinion.
But tonight, Novi's own presentation showed something else worth remembering.
From 2022-23 through 2025-26, Novi added 97 positions, including increases in administration.
And Novi's presentation showed salary benchmarks increasing from 2022-23 through 2026-27 by:
Superintendent: +18.17%
Directors: +20.02%
At the same time, the community is now being told that expenditures must be reduced and belts must be tightened.
That does not mean those positions were unnecessary. It does not mean those salaries were unjustified. It means expenditure growth did not simply happen to Novi.
Novi made staffing decisions.
Novi made compensation decisions.
Novi made spending decisions.
Those decisions belong in the conversation too.
Reasonable people can disagree about whether those decisions were appropriate. What we shouldn't do is replace that discussion with one very convenient word:
"Misinformation."
If something on this page is wrong, name it. Correct it. Show the receipt.
Lady Budgetdown will do the same.
👑 With receipts and respect.
Novi Community School District