ANOTHER QUESTION FOR THE SISD LEDGER...
Oh, Saginaw ISD.
Just when Lady Budgetdown thought this particular ledger might be ready for the shelf, another little breadcrumb arrived. This one came from a former SISD employee.
They described watching the cost of their health insurance climb over several years. Enough they said, that their family eventually moved down through different levels of coverage because of the cost.
They also described changes to what SISD contributed toward their HSA.
Now, those are the experiences of one former employee. And Lady Budgetdown does not turn somebody's experience into a fact simply because it landed in her inbox.
So naturally, I went looking. And this is where the ledger gets interesting.
We have already documented what was happening on the administrative side of Saginaw ISD during Jeffrey Collier's tenure.
Public payroll records reported the superintendent at $160,000 in 2021.
SISD's own 2024–25 Annual Web Report lists his salary at:
$297,000.
That's $137,000 higher.
Approximately 85.6%.
And SISD separately reports another $97,469 in supplemental compensation for the superintendent that year. Not including his district paid leased vehicle.
But the superintendent's compensation wasn't the only thing growing.
Lady Budgetdown's previous review also identified nine additional central-office administrative positions added during Collier's tenure.
Nine.
Which brings us back to that former employee's message.
Because while I can document what was happening at the top of the organization, I have not yet found enough publicly available information to document exactly what was happening in employees' wallets.
So perhaps SISD employees, past or present, can help answer a very simple question:
Were rank-and-file employees being asked to absorb substantially higher health-insurance costs while SISD was increasing compensation and adding positions at the administrative level?
And if so...
By how much?
Old benefit guides. Open-enrollment sheets. Premium schedules. HSA contribution notices.
Anything showing what employees were required to pay from one year to the next.
No names needed. Lady Budgetdown isn't looking for gossip. She's looking for the other side of the ledger.
Because if one side shows substantial growth in administrative salary and staffing, it seems only fair to find out what was happening on the other.
The question has been asked.
Now let's see what the receipts say.
— Lady Budgetdown
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #SaginawISD #SISD #FollowTheMoney #PublicEducation #SchoolFinance #Transparency #Accountability #WithReceiptsAndRespect