Step One showed us that Cheboygan Area Schools lost 326 pupils — 18.17% of its enrollment — over the last decade.
Now Lady B has wandered over to the staffing ledger. 🪶
And this one is interesting.
From 2014–15 to 2024–25:
🪶 Teacher FTE: 76.00 → 75.89
−0.14%
In other words, despite an 18.17% decline in pupils, teacher staffing remained almost perfectly flat.
Elsewhere, however, the staffing picture changed considerably.
Instructional aides: −65.71%
Instructional support: −100.00%
Student support: −4.91%
Other support: −28.77%
Guidance increased from 1.00 to 2.00 FTE, while school support remained unchanged at 10.00 FTE.
Then Lady B opened the NCES administrative ledger. 👀
Total administrator FTE went from 11.00 to 14.02.
That is an increase of 27.45%.
And unlike some districts we've examined, the growth wasn't confined to one side of administration:
District/central administrators:
6.00 → 7.60 | +26.67%
School administrators:
5.00 → 6.42 | +28.40%
Meanwhile, total staff reported by NCES declined from 202.03 to 193.50 FTE — down 4.22%.
So let us put the decade side by side:
Pupils: −18.17%
Teachers: −0.14%
Total staff: −4.22%
Total administrators: +27.45%
That does not tell us whether any individual position was necessary or unnecessary.
But it does tell us something about how the staffing structure changed.
Cheboygan served substantially fewer pupils.
It maintained essentially the same number of teachers.
It employed fewer staff overall.
And it employed more administrators.
Numbers tell us where we've been.
Receipts help us understand where we are. 🪶
Next, Lady B heads to the compensation ledger.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #CheboyganAreaSchools #Cheboygan #MichiganSchools #SchoolStaffing #SchoolAdministration #PublicEducation #Transparency #Accountability #FollowTheMoney #PublicRecords #WithReceiptsAndRespect
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