📜 DEAREST READERS: WHEN "LESS THAN 1%" DOESN'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY
Sometimes a number catches Lady Budgetdown's eye.
In Rochester Community Schools' 2024–25 operating expenditure report, General Administration accounted for just 0.95% of operating expenditures. That is absolutely true.
But your devoted correspondent wondered something else:
How has that spending changed over time compared with spending on Instruction?
So, down the rabbit hole we went. 🪶
Using the available RCS financial records, Lady Budgetdown compared 2015–16 with 2024–25:
📚 INSTRUCTION
2015–16: $102.40 million
2024–25: $136.00 million
Increase: about $33.60 million
Percentage increase: about 32.8%
🏛� GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
2015–16: $920,530
2024–25: $2,190,012
Increase: $1,269,482
Percentage increase: about 137.9%
And there is the interesting part.
Measured by percentage growth, General Administration increased at approximately 4.2 times the rate of Instruction over this period.
Yet General Administration still represents less than 1% of current operating expenditures.
Both facts are true. That is why percentages require context.
Saying a category represents only a small portion of today's budget tells us its size. Comparing its beginning and ending expenditures tells us its rate of growth. Those are two different questions - and one does not invalidate the other.
One additional distinction matters: General Administration and School Administration are separate accounting categories. This comparison is specifically about General Administration; it does not lump building-level School Administration into the figure.
Lady Budgetdown did not begin this exercise trying to prove that administrative spending is "too high" or "too low."
She simply followed the numbers.
And, dearest readers, sometimes less than 1% of the budget can still produce a rather interesting receipt. 🪶📜
With receipts and respect.
Data compiled and visualized by Lady Budgetdown using publicly available records.