Dearest reader,
I spend a great deal of time showing you numbers that deserve questions. Every once in a while, the receipts deserve something else:
Recognition.
I just finished my five-step review of Rudyard Area Schools. Same methodology. Same sources. Same spectacles and abacus. And taken together, Rudyard produced one of the more positive financial pictures I've encountered.
Teacher salaries gained purchasing power after inflation.
Teacher FTE increased even while enrollment declined.
Administrative growth was relatively modest when measured in actual FTE.
Nearly 60% of General Fund expenditures were classified as instruction, while more than 61% were personnel-related.
General Fund balance grew from approximately $1.48 million to $1.99 million between 2022 and 2024.
Long-term debt declined.
And the 2024 audit was clean, with no material weaknesses identified.
Is Rudyard perfect?
That's not what the ledger measures, and Lady Budgetdown doesn't hand out crowns.
But fairness works both ways.
If I'm going to stop the carriage when the receipts raise questions, then I ought to stop it when the receipts show a district doing several things right, too.
Rudyard Area Schools earned a green circle in this ledger.
Well done, Rudyard.
With receipts & respect.
Rudyard Bulldog Bulletin
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