Dearest reader,
Step 3 of our Southfield Public Schools review takes us to employee compensation.
And Southfield has quite a few names on this particular ledger.
According to the district's 2025 Employee Compensation Report, 108 employees had Medicare wages of $100,000 or more.
Of those, 72 are explicitly identified as teachers.
For this step, I pulled out the district's top and central administrative positions rather than filling the graphic with building-level administrators and every other $100,000+ employee.
Here's what the district reported:
Superintendent
$302,079.59 in wages
$455,181.69 total compensation
Chief Operations Officer
$152,862.62 in wages
$234,400.28 total compensation
Deputy Superintendent
$147,624.39 in wages
$251,115.04 total compensation
Chief Financial & Operations
$146,895.01 in wages
$244,498.68 total compensation
Chief of Staff
$132,153.88 in wages
$189,503.62 total compensation
The remaining central administrative positions shown on the graphic range from approximately $102,000 to $115,000 in wages, with several reaching roughly $180,000 to $202,000 in total compensation.
And then there is the superintendent's retirement contribution.
In addition to $302,079.59 in Medicare wages, the district reported a mandatory retirement contribution of $113,567.08.
That brings the superintendent's reported total compensation to $455,181.69.
One important note about that 108 figure: I am not calling the 36 employees who weren't identified as teachers "administrators." They include a mixture of principals, counselors, psychologists, coaches, directors and other positions.
If the receipt doesn't give me a clean category, I'm not going to invent one.
Next up, Step 4: the check register.
And Southfield's check register gave us plenty to talk about. 👀
With receipts and respect. 🪶
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