Dearest reader,
We followed the money.
Then we followed the staffing.
Now Lady B has arrived at the Hopkins Public Schools compensation ledger. 🪶
According to the district's Calendar Year 2025 employee compensation report, 5 employees had base salaries over $100,000.
But as Lady B frequently reminds you, salary isn't the entire cost of employing someone.
Once district-paid compensation is included, the total cost for those five employees becomes:
$921,218.
Now let's look at central administration.
Superintendent:
🪶 Base salary: $145,613
🪶 Total district compensation: $215,911
Director of Technology:
🪶 Base salary: $112,177
🪶 Total district compensation: $181,504
And this is where our earlier steps provide some useful context.
Step One showed that Hopkins enrollment declined 13.64% over the decade.
Step Two showed teacher FTE increased 21.83%.
But it also showed something else:
District/central administrator FTE increased from 2.80 to 7.00 — an increase of 150.00%.
School administrator FTE, meanwhile, declined 40.48%.
That doesn't tell us whether any individual position or salary is appropriate.
It does tell us that the administrative structure changed considerably over the decade.
And now we know what two of those central administrative positions cost today.
Lady B isn't deciding what someone should earn.
I'm opening the public records, putting the numbers on the table, and giving the community the receipts.
Next stop?
The check register. 👀🪶
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #HopkinsPublicSchools #HopkinsSchools #MichiganSchools #EmployeeCompensation #SchoolAdministration #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #PublicRecords #Transparency #Accountability #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect
Support Lady Budgetdown - https://ko-fi.com/ladybudgetdown