Dearest reader,
A reader brought me a question about funding for Harrison Community Schools.
Michigan's 2026-27 foundation allowance is $10,300 per pupil. So does that mean a school district receives only $10,300 for each student?
Nope.
The foundation allowance is only ONE piece of the funding picture.
The most recent complete financial data Lady B has available is Michigan's 2024–25 Bulletin 1014.
For Harrison Community Schools, it reports:
• Local revenue: $5,259 per pupil
• State revenue: $9,442 per pupil
• Federal/other revenue: $2,980 per pupil
• TOTAL GENERAL FUND REVENUE: $17,689 per pupil
Now, those numbers are from different school years, so Lady B isn't pretending $10,300 and $17,689 are an apples-to-apples comparison.
I'm using them to explain something much simpler:
THE FOUNDATION ALLOWANCE IS NOT THE SAME THING AS A DISTRICT'S TOTAL REVENUE PER PUPIL.
Districts can receive local revenue, additional state funding, federal dollars and other revenue beyond the foundation allowance.
So when someone says, "The foundation allowance is $10,300, therefore that's what the district receives per student," they're leaving out a pretty important part of the ledger.
Different numbers. Different measurements.
And sometimes the easiest way through school finance is simply knowing which column you're looking at.
With receipts and respect.