BANGOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: THE STAFFING LEDGER
Yesterday, we looked at where the money went. Now, Lady Budgetdown is opening the staffing ledger.
Bangor Public Schools went from 1,248 pupils in 2014-15 to 935.43 in 2024-25.
That is a 25.0% decline in pupils.
But staffing did not follow enrollment in quite the same direction.
Teacher FTE actually increased from 64.40 to 70.41 — up 9.3%.
Total staff FTE increased from 149.35 to 160.93 — up 7.8%.
Instructional aides declined 21.9%, while guidance increased 20.0%.
And administration?
This is where Bangor deserves some credit.
The NCES data shows total administrative FTE declined from 12.70 to 9.50 — down 25.2%.
In other words, administrative staffing declined almost exactly alongside enrollment.
The Michigan REP data tells a similar story: school administration declined 14.3%, while district administration declined 61.5%.
So this is not a story of Bangor losing students while piling on administrators.
But it does leave an interesting question.
Bangor has roughly 313 fewer pupils than it did a decade ago, yet it has more teachers and more total staff.
And as we saw in the financial ledger, average teacher salary actually fell from $49,972 to $47,412 during that same decade.
Fewer pupils.
More teachers.
More total staff.
Fewer administrators.
Lower average teacher pay.
That is quite a combination.
So where did Bangor's staffing change — and where is the additional spending we saw in Part 1 actually landing?
The ledger isn't finished yet. 👀
Sources: Michigan Department of Education Bulletin 1014; Michigan REP staffing data; NCES Common Core of Data.
Receipts aren't very useful if we only keep the convenient ones.