Dearest reader,
Step 3 takes us into Wolverine Community Schools' employee compensation ledger.
And compared with many of the districts Lady B has visited, this one is remarkably short.
Wolverine reports exactly ONE employee earning more than $100,000.
And that employee is filling two roles:
Superintendent / Elementary Principal
Salary and wages:
$140,991
District-paid retirement:
$40,220
FICA:
$10,313
Vision, life and LTD:
$1,636
Total district-paid compensation:
$193,160
And that's it.
The district's disclosure specifically states:
"No other employees earned over $100,000."
That context matters.
Remember what we learned in Step 2A?
Wolverine's total administrative staffing declined from 3.00 FTE to 2.00 FTE over the last decade — a 33.33% reduction.
Now the compensation disclosure gives us another piece of that picture: the district's superintendent is also serving as its elementary principal.
Lady B has examined districts where the $100,000+ compensation disclosure runs for pages.
Wolverine's has one person.
That doesn't tell us whether $193,160 is too much, too little, or exactly right for someone performing those combined responsibilities.
It simply tells us what the district reports paying.
And sometimes the most interesting ledger isn't the longest one.
Next, we follow the checks.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #Wolverine #WolverineCommunitySchools #MichiganSchools #PublicEducation #EmployeeCompensation #SuperintendentPay #SchoolAdministration #SchoolFinance #SchoolTransparency #PublicRecords #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect