LADY BUDGETDOWN: FREELAND COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: FOLLOW THE STAFFING
We opened Freeland's ten-year financial ledger. Now it's time to look at students and staffing.
And this one is a perfect example of why Lady Budgetdown looks at both headcount AND FTE. 🔎
🎒 STUDENT HEADCOUNT
From 2014–15 to 2024–25:
1,893 → 2,016
That's:
+123 students - or +6.5%
Freeland grew.
But staffing grew considerably faster.
👥 TOTAL STAFF HEADCOUNT
366 → 514
That's:
+148 employees - or +40.4%
And when we look at FTE - Full-Time Equivalent staffing:
170.99 → 226.32
+55.33 FTE - or +32.4%
So while student headcount increased 6.5%, total staff FTE increased 32.4%.
But here's where the details matter.
🍎 TEACHERS
Teacher headcount:
94 → 200
+112.8%
Whoa. Did Freeland more than double its full-time teaching workforce?
No.
Teacher FTE tells a very different story:
94.00 → 107.42
+14.3%
That's exactly why I won't post the 112.8% figure without showing you the FTE number beside it.
Headcount tells us how many individuals were reported.
FTE gives us a much better picture of the amount of staffing those individuals represent.
👥 PARAPROFESSIONALS & AIDES
This is actually the category with the largest FTE increase:
18.74 → 38.00
+102.8%
Paraprofessional/aide FTE more than doubled.
⚙️ NON-INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF
48.25 → 68.90 FTE
+42.8%
🏛� ADMINISTRATORS
10.00 → 12.00 FTE
+20.0%
So the ten-year picture looks like this:
Students: +6.5%
Administrators FTE: +20.0%
Teachers FTE: +14.3%
Paraprofessionals/Aides FTE: +102.8%
Non-Instructional FTE: +42.8%
Total Staff FTE: +32.4%
📜 THE TAKEAWAY
Freeland wasn't a shrinking district during this period.
Student headcount increased 6.5%.
But total staff FTE increased 32.4%, nearly five times the percentage growth in student headcount.
Does that automatically mean Freeland is overstaffed?
No.
These numbers alone don't tell us what staffing levels Freeland should have.
They tell us how staffing changed.
And the enormous difference between teacher headcount (+112.8%) and teacher FTE (+14.3%) is a good reminder of why context matters.
Had we posted only one of those numbers, we'd have told only part of the story.
Lady Budgetdown prefers the whole ledger. 📜
With receipts and respect.
Freeland Community School District
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