DEAREST READER: THE TRENTON LEDGER JUST GOT MORE INTERESTING.
This morning, I asked one question about Trenton Public Schools:
When the cuts reached the students, what had already been cut upstairs?
I wasn't accusing anyone of wrongdoing.
I wasn't suggesting anyone should lose a job.
I simply put the district's own numbers on the table and asked the question.
Then a Trenton parent sent me another breadcrumb.
She said she had heard that upper administration receives some type of bonus connected to maintaining a certain percentage of money in district reserves.
Now, longtime readers know what happens next.
I don't publish rumors.
So I went looking.
And no, I could not verify the specific claim that Trenton's current upper administration receives a bonus for maintaining a 15% fund balance.
So I am not going to tell you that it does.
But what I found while checking the claim?
Well.
Fetch the spectacles.
Because there actually IS historical precedent in Trenton Public Schools for tying a superintendent's compensation to the district's fund balance.
A November 12, 2018 Superintendent Contract Addendum stated that the superintendent's salary for 2019-20 would increase by 2% if the district's unaudited fund balance was at least 12.5% of total budget expenditures.
Read that carefully.
12.5%.
Not the 15% figure sent to me.
And this was an older superintendent contract, not evidence that current Superintendent Doug Mentzer, or any current administratorhas the same provision today.
That distinction matters.
Receipts aren't very useful if we only keep the convenient ones.
But while I was checking that breadcrumb, I found another receipt.
And frankly, this one interests me considerably more.
I found Superintendent Doug Mentzer's own 2025-26 Superintendent Evaluation / Goals Update.
Among the accomplishments and action items he identifies during his leadership of Trenton Public Schools is this:
"Expanded administrative structure with new HR/Operations Chief Director, CFO, Director of Technology, and Assistant Superintendent roles."
Those are not my words.
They aren't the words of an angry parent.
They aren't something whispered to Lady Budgetdown through Messenger.
They are on the superintendent's own goals and evaluation page.
And suddenly, the question I asked this morning became considerably more interesting.
Because Trenton's current Central Office directory identifies:
Superintendent
Assistant Superintendent
Director of Technology
Chief Human Resources and Operations Officer
Chief Financial Officer
And as I showed this morning, Trenton's own Calendar Year 2025 Employee Compensation over $100,000 report shows the five corresponding core central-office functions carrying approximately:
$1,182,594.57 in total compensation.
Again:
I am not saying those positions are unnecessary.
I am not saying the district should fire an administrator.
I am not saying the administrative expansion caused Trenton's financial problems.
The receipts we have do not establish any of those things.
But we do know something now that we didn't know this morning.
Trenton's superintendent himself describes an expanded administrative structure as part of his tenure.
And today, Trenton is confronting a very different financial picture.
Its adopted 2025-26 General Fund budget projected $35.85 million in expenditures against $32.65 million in revenue, plus other financing uses, producing a projected $3.84 million reduction in fund balance for that year.
And now we are hearing about cuts.
Readers responding to this morning's post have reported paraprofessional reductions, teaching-assistant reductions, building-substitute reductions and other student-facing staffing changes.
Those reader reports still need receipts.
But one cut we do know about publicly:
The THS Career Center employee whose 2025 gross wages were $36,851.57 says her employment will end in December because of district-wide financial cuts.
And THAT brings me right back to where I started.
🪶 WHEN THE CUTS REACHED THE STUDENTS, WHAT HAD ALREADY BEEN CUT UPSTAIRS?
Except now I have another question.
What happened between expanding the administrative structure and reaching the point where student-facing positions had to be eliminated?
Maybe there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Maybe administrative positions have subsequently been reduced.
Maybe positions were consolidated.
Maybe vacancies weren't filled.
Maybe the district has already made reductions upstairs that simply aren't obvious from the records I've reviewed.
If so, bring me the receipts.
Because that is exactly the context I want on this ledger.
I don't need to decide whether Trenton has "too many administrators."
I don't need to decide whose job is more important.
And I certainly don't need to turn an unverified Messenger tip into a fact just because it makes for a good headline.
I only need to follow the receipts far enough to know when they have created a fair question.
And this one has.
Trenton expanded its administrative structure.
Trenton is now cutting student-facing positions.
So, Trenton:
What was cut upstairs before the cuts came downstairs?
The ledger is open.
With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown 🪶
SOURCES
• Trenton Public Schools — Calendar Year 2025 Employee Compensation over $100,000 (Medicare Wages).
• Doug Mentzer — Superintendent Evaluation / Goals Update, 2025-26; identifies expansion of the administrative structure and central-office restructuring.
• Trenton Public Schools — Current Central Office directory.
• Trenton Public Schools — Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Technology, State & Federal Programs.
• Trenton Public Schools — 2025-26 General Fund Budget Summary, reproduced in district financial/bond disclosure materials.
• Trenton Public Schools — November 12, 2018 Superintendent Contract Addendum; historical 2% salary increase provision tied to a fund balance of at least 12.5% of total budget expenditures.
• Trenton Public Schools — Budget & Salary/Compensation Transparency Reporting.
Trenton Public Schools
#LadyBudgetdown #TrentonPublicSchools #TrentonMI #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #FollowTheMoney #PublicSchools #SchoolBudget #WithReceiptsAndRespect #MichiganSchools