Dearest reader,
I was sent a breadcrumb last night about Fowlerville Community Schools.
The concern was fairly simple: class sizes are reportedly increasing, while there is a perception that the same kind of reductions are not happening at Central Office.
So, naturally, I fetched the spectacles, opened the district's own financial records, and followed the dollars.
And the ledger deserves a closer look.
From FY2023-24 actual expenditures to Fowlerville's adopted FY2026-27 budget:
Basic Instruction goes from $16.84 million to $14.01 million — a decrease of $2.82 million, or 16.8%.
Total Instruction goes from $21.24 million to $19.07 million — a decrease of $2.18 million, or 10.2%.
Meanwhile, General Administration rises from $802,361 to $928,868 — an increase of 15.8%.
Central Services rises from $470,993 to $1.06 million — an increase of $593,424, or 126%.
Put General Administration and Central Services together, and the comparison moves from $1.27 million to $1.99 million — an increase of approximately $720,000, or 56.5%.
Now, before anyone reaches for the pitchforks, there are a few receipts that belong beside those numbers.
First, this is not an apples-to-apples comparison of two completed fiscal years. FY2023-24 is actual spending. FY2026-27 is the district's adopted budget. That distinction matters.
Second, not every dollar classified as Central Services is an administrator's salary. Central Services includes other district-level support functions. And I found district records showing that at least some administrative and central-office support work has been connected to grant funding.
Receipts aren't terribly useful if I leave those parts out.
But I also found that in December 2024, the Board approved Administrative Salary Schedules and Rate Increase, Director Salary Schedules and Rate Increase, and Central Office Support Staff Salary Schedules and Rate Increase. The published 2024-25 Central Support Staff schedule states "Steps @ 1.5% increase."
And while all of this is sitting in the ledger, Fowlerville teachers are currently negotiating their next contract.
The district's transparency page shows negotiations beginning in April and continuing through September, with financial proposals presented July 21, August 3 and September 2. Another bargaining session is scheduled for September 18.
Then there is one more receipt that caught my attention.
For the 2026-27 school year, Fowlerville's Board approved participation in Schools of Choice with:
UNLIMITED enrollment openings in every grade, Kindergarten through 12th grade.
To be very clear, I am not saying Schools of Choice caused larger classes. I do not have the final Schools of Choice enrollment numbers necessary to make that connection.
But when I receive reports of larger class sizes, then find a budget showing Basic Instruction down 16.8% and Total Instruction down 10.2%, while General Administration and Central Services combined are budgeted 56.5% higher than FY2023-24 actual spending, and the district has simultaneously opened every grade to unlimited Schools of Choice...
Well, dearest reader, that is precisely when the abacus comes out.
I don't need to decide what the answer is.
I think the ledger leaves a perfectly fair question:
As Fowlerville makes decisions about classrooms, staffing and teacher compensation, where are its priorities showing up in the dollars?
The numbers are above.
You may decide for yourself what they say.
With receipts and respect. 🪶
Sources:
Fowlerville Community Schools — FY2023-24 financial/budget records.
Fowlerville Community Schools — Fiscal Year Board Approved Budgets / 2026-27 Original Approved Budget.
Fowlerville Board of Education — Dec. 10, 2024 salary schedule/rate increase approvals.
Fowlerville Community Schools — Central Support Staff Salary Schedule.
Fowlerville Community Schools — 2026 Teacher Collective Bargaining Updates.
Fowlerville Community Schools — July 7, 2026 Schools of Choice Open Enrollment Notice.
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