🐷 DEAREST READER... APPARENTLY WE HAVE REACHED THE PIG PORTION OF OUR PROGRAM.
This morning, a rather interesting breadcrumb landed upon Lady B's desk.
Scott Sawyer, Associate Superintendent of Finance for Bay City Public Schools, sent a message through the MSBO Business listserv.
And Lady Budgetdown received a rather unexpected mention.
His opening:
"With Lady Budgetdown and other social media transparency watchdogs picking up steam..."
Well........
Lady B certainly did not have Michigan School Business Office correspondence on today's bingo card.
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But what followed was considerably more important than Lady B's name appearing in an email.
District business offices were encouraged to review the very things readers have been asking questions about:
• Are expenses coded to the correct function codes?
• Can substantial differences between budgets and actual spending be explained?
• Are millage and bond materials accurate and transparent?
• Does REP reporting accurately reflect what employees actually do?
• Are district transparency pages current?
Sound familiar, dearest reader? It should.
These are the same public records, staffing reports, budgets, audits and financial documents that ordinary taxpayers across Michigan have started reading for themselves.
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Mr. Sawyer ended his message with an amended old saying:
"Arguing with an internet troll is like wrestling in the mud with a pig... sooner or later, you'll realize they both like it." 🐷
Lady B shall resist the temptation to determine precisely who was assigned the role of pig in this particular production.
Mostly.
Because underneath the humor is something considerably more important.
People asking questions can make a difference.
You do not need to be an accountant.
You do not need to sit on a school board.
You do not need a title after your name.
You can read a budget.
You can read an audit.
You can look at staffing data.
You can ask why one number doesn't match another.
And you can ask the people entrusted with public money to explain it.
That isn't trolling.
That is public accountability. And it doesn't apply only to schools.
Every public institution entrusted with taxpayer dollars should expect those taxpayers to ask where the money went, how it was spent, and whether the public records accurately tell that story.
If more people asking those questions causes public institutions to double-check their coding, update their transparency pages, verify their staffing reports and make sure their financial story can withstand public scrutiny...
Splendid.
Keep asking questions.
Lady B will keep reading the receipts.
And apparently, we shall keep an eye out for pigs. 🐷🪶
With receipts and respect. And possibly a pig
Bay City Public Schools
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