Dearest reader,
Step Six of the Saginaw Township Community Schools ledger takes us somewhere school finance conversations often end up eventually:
The buildings.
And this one deserves a little context.
Over the last decade, STCS Operations & Maintenance spending increased from $677 to $940 per pupil, a 38.8% increase. After accounting for inflation, however, that represents only about a 2.2% increase in purchasing power.
But the county comparison caught my attention.
In 2024-25, STCS spent $940 per pupil on Operations & Maintenance, the lowest among all 12 traditional public school districts in Saginaw County.
That does NOT mean $940 represents everything STCS spent on its buildings.
The district also spent approximately $2.36 million through its Sinking Fund and another $171,000 through a Capital Improvement Fund that year. Different buckets. Same buildings. Important context.
There is another receipt worth noting.
The 2024-25 audit specifically states that some budgeted building-and-grounds repairs did not occur during the fiscal year and that those amounts would instead be accounted for in assigned equity.
Then we get to the newest budget.
Building Operations went from a final revised $8.56 million in 2025-26 to $6.34 million budgeted for 2026-27.
That is a 25.9% reduction.
There is context there, too: the 2025-26 Building Operations budget had increased substantially during the year from its original $5.65 million appropriation.
So I am not going to pretend the ledger gives us an explanation that it doesn't.
But it does give us a question.
When a district has documented substantial facility needs, spends the least per pupil on O&M among its county peers, reports that some budgeted repairs did not occur, and then budgets 25.9% less for Building Operations than the prior year's final revised amount...
What exactly is happening inside that facilities ledger?
The numbers tell a story.
Now we ask why.
With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown
Sources:
Michigan Department of Education — Bulletin 1014
Saginaw Township Community Schools — 2024-25 Audited Financial Statements
STCS — 2025-26 Final Revised Budget
STCS — 2026-27 Budget Documents
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