Dearest reader,
Lady B has arrived at Step Four of the Kalamazoo Public Schools ledger. 🪶
And this time, we are keeping it simple.
No construction projects. No utilities. No buses. No food service.
Just two little columns in the check register that caught Lady B's eye:
Legal and advertising. 👀
During 2024–25, Kalamazoo Public Schools paid:
⚖️ LEGAL — $376,847.72
Clark Hill — $374,347.72
Thrun Law Firm — $2,500.00
And then we wandered over to advertising and media.
📣 ADVERTISING / MEDIA — $211,516.18
LKF Marketing — $170,126.95
Summit Advertising — $20,542.88
Midwest Communications — $14,976.00
MLive Media Group — $2,795.35
Gipper Media — $2,125.00
Envision Advertising Design — $950.00
That puts the two categories together at:
$588,363.90.
Now, Lady B is not going to tell you that a school district should never hire an attorney.
Nor is she going to pretend a district of this size never needs to communicate or advertise.
That isn't the point.
The point is that these are public dollars.
And when nearly $600,000 moves through just two categories, taxpayers should be able to see it, understand it, and decide for themselves whether those expenditures reflect the priorities they expect from their school district.
No accusation required.
No dramatic conclusion necessary.
Sometimes the most useful thing Lady B can do is open the ledger, put the receipts on the table, and let you read them for yourself. 🪶
And Kalamazoo's ledger still has another page to turn.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #KalamazooPublicSchools #Kalamazoo #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #LegalSpending #Advertising #PublicRecords #Transparency #Accountability #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect
Support Lady Budgetdown - https://ko-fi.com/ladybudgetdown