BANGOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: TEN YEARS LATER
The ledger has made its way to Van Buren County.
Bangor Public Schools (80020), 2014-15 to 2024-25. And this one has a rather interesting story to tell.
Over ten years:
• Pupil count fell from 1,248 to 935.43 - down 25.0%.
• All-sources revenue per pupil rose from $9,771 to $16,421 - up 68.1%.
• Total instruction per pupil rose from $5,822 to $9,845 - up 69.1%.
• Business & administration per pupil rose from $1,530 to $2,685 - up 75.5%.
• Operations & maintenance per pupil rose from $987 to $2,081 - up 110.8%.
• Total support per pupil rose from $3,508 to $6,574 - up 87.4%.
And then there are the teachers.
Average teacher salary was $49,972 in 2014-15.
Ten years later?
$47,412.
That is $2,560 LESS than it was a decade ago, a 5.1% decline before inflation is even considered.
During the same period, CPI increased 35.83%.
So Bangor lost roughly one-quarter of its pupils. Revenue per pupil climbed 68%. Instruction spending per pupil climbed 69%. Business and administration climbed 76%. Operations and maintenance more than doubled.
Yet the average teacher salary went backward.
That leaves Lady Budgetdown with a rather obvious question:
Where did the additional money go, and what changed inside Bangor Public Schools over those ten years?
I suspect the staffing ledger may have something to say about that next.
Source: Michigan Department of Education, Bulletin 1014, 2014-15 & 2024-25.
Receipts aren't very useful if we only keep the convenient ones.