LADY BUDGETDOWN: TROY SCHOOL DISTRICT
A rabbit hole doesn't always uncover something wrong. Sometimes it simply shows what happens when a school district has to make difficult financial decisions.
Troy School District entered its 2026–27 budget process looking for approximately $12 million in reductions.
A June budget-reduction document identified 37 proposals totaling approximately $11.64 million.
Among the proposals:
• $1.5 million minimum anticipated savings from an employee buyout
• 2 administrative positions — $258,050
• Elementary/high-school attendance secretary reductions — $386,326
• 5 elementary general-education teaching positions — $783,000
• Elementary math specialists — $522,000
• 10 secondary general-education teaching positions — $870,000
• Secondary math specialists — $278,400
• Secondary literacy specialists — $278,400
• 2 high-school counselor positions — $261,000
• Student Support Aides — $1.33 million
But here's the part I found more interesting than the cuts themselves:
Troy didn't simply make a list and call it finished.
The district evaluated proposed reductions using student-learning impact, equity, legal/compliance risk, financial savings, feasibility and stakeholder support. And as the process continued, some proposed reductions were modified or restored.
That's what a budget-reduction process actually looks like.
It raises a question I think is worth asking whenever a district says cuts are necessary:
What was considered, what was ultimately cut, what was protected, and why?
Not every rabbit hole ends with a gotcha.
Sometimes the receipts simply provide a useful example for comparison.