Dearest reader,
Now that we have followed Parchment School District's dollars, let's follow the people. 🪶
From 2014–15 to 2024–25:
📉 Pupil count
1,685.00 → 1,537.08
Down 8.78%
🍎 Teachers
79.91 → 80.62 FTE
Up 0.89%
👥 Instructional Aides
5.25 → 20.18 FTE
Up 284.38%
📚 Instructional Support
1.00 → 2.20 FTE
Up 120.00%
🧭 Guidance
1.00 → 4.20 FTE
Up 320.00%
🏫 School Support
13.88 → 17.65 FTE
Up 27.16%
🤝 Student Support
9.18 → 22.60 FTE
Up 146.19%
📋 Other Support
37.53 → 67.12 FTE
Up 78.84%
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Now take a step back and look at the decade as a whole.
Pupils: down 8.78%
Teachers: up 0.89%
Total administrators: down 3.99%
Total staff: up 50.32%
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That last number caught Lady B's eye.
While Parchment served about 9% fewer pupils, its overall staff FTE increased by just over 50%.
But where that growth occurred matters.
It was not driven by administrators, whose total FTE actually declined slightly. And teacher FTE remained nearly flat.
Much of the growth shown in the state data occurred in aides and support categories — including substantial increases in instructional aides, guidance and student support.
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Is that the staffing mix Parchment's students need?
That is not a question the ledger can answer.
But the ledger can show us how the district changed.
And over ten years, Parchment became a district serving fewer pupils with considerably more staff — just not considerably more teachers or administrators.
With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown 🪶
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