Dearest reader,
We have reached our final stop in Wolverine Community Schools.
Step 5: the financial condition of the district.
And let's begin with something Lady B doesn't always get to say:
Wolverine entered this period with a very healthy General Fund balance.
For 2024-25:
Revenue: $3,902,897
Expenditures: $3,840,364
Surplus: $62,533
Ending General Fund balance: $1,820,082
Fund balance ratio: 47.39%
And there's another receipt worth mentioning.
Wolverine's final budget had projected a $98,661 deficit.
Instead?
The district finished the year with a $62,533 surplus.
That's $161,194 better than budgeted.
Now let's look forward.
2025-26 budget:
Deficit: $220,846
Ending fund balance: $1,599,236
Fund balance ratio: 35.84%
2026-27 budget:
Deficit: $169,777
Ending fund balance: $1,429,459
Fund balance ratio: 33.25%
If both budgets play out as written, Wolverine will use $390,623 of its General Fund balance over two years.
That's a 21.46% reduction.
Sounds substantial.
And it is.
But context matters.
Even after that projected drawdown, Wolverine would still have a fund balance equal to roughly one-third of annual expenditures.
So Lady B isn't ringing any financial alarm bells here.
There are, however, some changes underneath the totals worth watching.
From 2024-25 actual spending to the 2026-27 budget:
Basic Programs: +10.81%
Added Needs: +3.37%
Pupil Support: +10.11%
Instructional Staff Support: +7.68%
General Administration: +17.95%
School Administration: +23.64%
Operations & Maintenance: +27.83%
Meanwhile:
Business: −12.22%
Transportation: −14.02%
Central Support: −24.78%
And finally, the independent audit:
Unmodified opinion.
So after five steps, what did we find in Wolverine?
A district that has lost 34.20% of its pupils over ten years, while maintaining nearly all of its teacher staffing.
Administrative staffing that declined almost alongside enrollment.
One employee on the $100,000+ compensation disclosure — a superintendent who also serves as elementary principal.
Outside contracts that included $33,750 for a Success Coach, $13,500 for GVC Coaching and $61,250 for payroll and financial services.
And financially?
A district with a strong reserve, a clean audit, and two years of planned fund-balance use ahead.
No manufactured outrage required.
Sometimes the numbers raise questions.
Sometimes they uncover problems.
And sometimes they show a district sitting in a relatively strong financial position.
The ledger gets the same treatment either way.
With receipts and respect.
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