FREELAND COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Well now. Sometimes I open the ledger expecting one number to behave itself.
Sometimes it does not. 👀
I went back ten years and looked at Freeland's staffing numbers.
2014–15 → 2024–25
📚 Pupils:
1,882 → 2,017.42
↑ 7.2%
🍎 Teachers:
91.00 → 103.63 FTE
↑ 13.9%
📖 Instructional aides/paras:
15.74 → 37.00 FTE
↑ 135.1%
🏫 Building administration:
4.10 → 4.00 FTE
↓ 2.4%
And then my quill stopped here:
🏛� District/central administration:
2.75 → 8.00 FTE
↑ 190.9%
Now, a percentage doesn't tell me whether a position is necessary. It doesn't tell me what responsibilities changed over ten years. And it certainly doesn't tell me that eight administrators are "too many."
But 190.9% does earn a circle in my ledger. ⭕
So today's question is a simple one:
What changed at the district level in Freeland?
Enrollment grew 7.2%.
Teachers grew 13.9%.
Building administration remained essentially flat.
Yet district/central administration grew from 2.75 to 8.00 FTE.
There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation.
I'd like to know what it is.
If anyone familiar with Freeland can help identify which district-level positions were added, changed, consolidated or reclassified during this period, the ledger is open. 🪶
With receipts & respect.
#FreelandCommunitySchoolDistrict #SchoolSpending #EducationFunding #FiscalTransparency #PublicEducation #FollowTheNumbers #LadyBudgetdown