Dearest reader,
Step 2 takes us from the dollars to the people.
For Flat Rock Community Schools, we compared staffing from 2014-15 to 2024-25 using Michigan REP data for teachers and instructional aides, and NCES data for administrators.
Over those ten years, pupil FTE increased 14.64%, from 1,502.00 to 1,721.96.
Teachers moved in the opposite direction.
Teacher FTE declined from 90.27 to 82.77 — a decrease of 8.31%.
Instructional aides moved sharply the other way, increasing from 5.69 to 14.34 FTE — an increase of 152.02%.
Then we opened the administrative ledger.
Total administrator FTE increased from 12.75 to 14.50, or 13.73%.
But the pieces underneath that total tell a little more of the story.
LEA/District administrators increased from 4.00 to 8.50 FTE — up 112.50%.
School administrators declined from 8.75 to 6.00 FTE — down 31.43%.
And across the district, total staff FTE declined from 235.36 to 228.07, a decrease of 3.09%.
So over a decade in which Flat Rock served more pupils, the district had fewer teachers and fewer total staff, substantially more instructional aides, and a shift within administration from school-level positions toward district-level administration.
Those numbers don't tell us why those staffing decisions were made.
But they do tell us where to turn the next page.
With receipts and respect,
Lady B 👑
#LadyBudgetdown #FlatRockCommunitySchools #FlatRockSchools #MonroeCounty #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #PublicSchools #FollowTheReceipts