LADY B HAS A SERIOUS QUESTION FOR SAGINAW TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY SCHOOLS!

When a school board unanimously approves someone for an administrative position, shouldn't verifying that person's qualifications be one of its most basic responsibilities?

I certainly think so. And what I've uncovered raises serious questions about board oversight.

A reader brought a breadcrumb to Lady B concerning Marcie Winters, an assistant principal at Heritage High School. A close friend and even closer neighbor of Superintendent Kraatz.

The question was simple: Does she hold the administrator certification required by the State of Michigan?

So I went directly to the Michigan Department of Education's public educator credential database (MOECS).

HERE'S WHAT I FOUND:

✅ Valid Professional Teaching Certificate through June 30, 2031.

✅ Teaching endorsements in elementary education, English, and science.

❌ No School Administrator Certificate appears in the six credential records returned.

❌ No current School Administrator Permit appears in those records.

🏫 THE SCHOOL BOARD APPROVED HER APPOINTMENT!

According to Saginaw Township Community Schools' own board records, Marcie Winters was unanimously approved for an administrator position at Heritage High School beginning with the 2025–2026 school year.

The appointment was conditional upon verification of the required information and qualifications.

And THREE of the board members who participated in that unanimous vote are seeking reelection this November.

🚨 LADY B BELIEVES THIS IS A MAJOR OVERSIGHT CONCERN!

I absolutely expect the Board of Education to ensure that the people it approves for leadership positions are legally qualified to serve.

That's OVERSIGHT.

That's ACCOUNTABILITY.

A unanimous vote does not make questions about qualifications disappear. Nor does delegating the verification process to someone else eliminate the board's responsibility to ensure it was completed.

❓ I HAVE A SIMPLE QUESTION:

What authorization did Saginaw Township Community Schools verify before placing Marcie Winters in an assistant principal position?

If the district has documentation establishing her legal authorization to serve, I welcome that information.

Michigan taxpayers entrust school boards with overseeing public education, public spending, and the leadership of their schools.

I believe ensuring that administrators are properly authorized to serve should be among the most fundamental responsibilities of that oversight.

Especially when three of the board members who approved this appointment are asking voters for another term.

- Lady Budgetdown

KEEP SENDING breadcrumbs!!

#LadyBudgetdown #SaginawTownshipCommunitySchools #HeritageHighSchool #SchoolBoardAccountability #EducationTransparency #MichiganEducation #BoardOversight #TaxpayerAccountability #Saginaw #OurStory

WHEN SCHOOL BONDS FAIL, WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE?

A reader recently brought Lady B an interesting breadcrumb: a public discussion by an educator expressing concerns about school safety following a failed bond proposal, including criticism directed toward those who voted against it, not the current administration or board members.

It got me thinking about a much bigger issue across Michigan.

School boards and administrations make financial decisions year after year. They approve budgets, establish spending priorities, and oversee the maintenance and condition of district facilities.

📊 Consider one Michigan school district where operations and maintenance spending was reduced by 25.9%, more than $2 million, while administration was reduced by approximately 1.3%, or roughly $10,000.

Those are two very different reductions in spending priorities.

Now consider another part of the conversation.

The Michigan Education Association (MEA) and local education unions represent educators and endorse school board candidates, including incumbents who may have served through years of those financial decisions.

That raises an interesting question: How much consideration is given to an incumbent's record on maintenance, facilities, and spending priorities when those endorsements are made? It doesn't seem like much.

And when a school bond fails, why do some educators direct their frustration toward taxpayers rather than also questioning the decisions made by district leadership over the preceding years?

After all, the buildings didn't become old overnight. Safety concerns didn't necessarily begin on Election Day. And a taxpayer voting NO on a particular bond doesn't mean that taxpayer doesn't care about children.

Some of those very taxpayers have children attending those schools.

I believe school safety deserves serious discussion. So does financial accountability. Taxpayers aren't an endless source of money for districts.

💬 Lady B wants to know:

When educators question taxpayers for rejecting school bonds, shouldn't the same scrutiny extend to the school boards responsible for years of budgets, spending priorities, and facilities decisions, including incumbents endorsed by their own unions?
Accountability shouldn't begin and end at the ballot box.

#LadyBudgetdown #SchoolAccountability #MichiganSchools #SchoolBonds #TaxpayerTransparency #EducationFunding

LADY BUDGETDOWN | NORTHPORT PUBLIC SCHOOL

🏫 $8,185 PER STUDENT ON BUSINESS & ADMINISTRATION. AND A FAMILY CONNECTION WORTH EXAMINING.

We've spent several posts examining Northport Public School's finances, staffing, compensation, and audit reports.

Now Lady B wants to revisit two things that deserve a closer look: administrative spending and the relationships between the individuals responsible for overseeing and operating the district.

📊 FIRST, THE NUMBERS.

According to the Michigan Department of Education's 2024–25 Bulletin 1014:

🏫 Student Enrollment: 126.23 FTE

💰 Business & Administration Spending: $8,185 per pupil

For comparison, a financial analysis circulated concerning Northport reports a median of $2,806 per pupil for Michigan school districts enrolling fewer than 500 students.

That would place Northport's spending at approximately 2.92 times the reported small-district median.

The $8,185 figure comes directly from MDE Bulletin 1014. The $2,806 comparison figure comes from a separate analysis and has not been independently recalculated by Lady B.

It's also important to distinguish per-pupil spending from total expenditures. Small districts can have higher per-pupil costs because fixed expenses are spread across fewer students.

But the comparison is still worth discussing.

👥 NOW, THE FAMILY CONNECTIONS.

According to Northport's publicly available staff and Board of Education directories:

🔹 Thomas Wetherbee serves as a Board of Education trustee, with a term listed through 2030.

🔹 Neil Wetherbee, Thomas's son, serves as superintendent.

🔹 Corrine Wetherbee, Neil's wife and Thomas's daughter-in-law, is employed by the district in a Title I position.

That places three members of one family in three different roles within the same school district.

One serves on the governing board.

One leads the district's administration.

And one is employed by the district.

💭 WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

School boards are responsible for overseeing superintendents, evaluating their performance, and approving employment contracts and compensation.

When a superintendent's parent serves on that same board, questions about independent oversight and conflict-of-interest safeguards are reasonable.

The family relationship itself does not establish wrongdoing, and it does not automatically mean that any employment or compensation decision was improper.

But it does raise questions about how those decisions are handled.

📋 AND THERE'S ANOTHER DETAIL.

Northport's FY2025 employee compensation transparency report contains a superintendent entry listing:

💰 Salaries/Wages: $160,423.32

💰 Mandatory Retirement: $58,281.11

💰 Mandatory FICA: $12,272.39

💰 Other Reported Benefits: $83,530.54

Combined reported compensation and employer costs: $314,507.36.

Interestingly, the report identifies the employee as Thomas N. Wetherbee, Superintendent, while the district's staff directory identifies Neil Wetherbee as superintendent and its Board directory identifies Thomas Wetherbee as a trustee.

Lady B has not established the reason for that discrepancy.

The combined amount also includes employer costs and should not be mistaken for take-home salary.

🔎 THE QUESTIONS.

With Northport reporting $8,185 per pupil in business and administration expenditures, and three members of one family serving in district governance, administration, and employment:

❓ What procedures does the Board use to ensure independent oversight of the superintendent?

❓ How are potential conflicts of interest disclosed and managed when compensation or employment matters involve family members?

❓ What explains Northport's administrative spending relative to the reported median for other small Michigan districts?

These are questions about public spending, governance, and transparency. They are not allegations of misconduct.

Lady B believes taxpayers should be able to understand both how their school district spends public money and how the people responsible for those decisions are held accountable.

📚 SOURCES:
Michigan Department of Education, 2024–25 Bulletin 1014, District 45040.
Northport Public School, Staff Directory and Board of Education Directory.
Northport Public School, FY2025 Employee Compensation Transparency Report.
Small-district median referenced from a separately circulated financial comparison.

👑 Lady B | With Receipts and Respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #NorthportPublicSchool #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #AdministrativeSpending #BoardOversight #EducationTransparency #PublicEducation #FollowTheNumbers #TaxpayerTransparency

LADY BUDGETDOWN | NORTHPORT PUBLIC SCHOOL

📊 STEP 5: AUDIT, BUDGET & FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

2024–25 Audit | 2025–26 Final Budget | 2026–27 Original Budget

We've examined Northport Public School's enrollment, administrative expenditures, staffing, and employee compensation.

Now Lady B is looking at the district's audited financial position, its next two budgets, and what the independent auditor reported.

And there are some interesting findings.

💰 GENERAL FUND BALANCE

Northport's 2024–25 audit reports:

2024 Fund Balance: $4,048,146 
2025 Fund Balance: $4,297,552

📈 An increase of $249,406, or 6.16%.

The district's subsequent budgets project that fund balance remaining at $4,297,552 through 2026–27.

That represents a substantial financial reserve for a district serving approximately 126 students during the 2024–25 school year.

Northport's financial position is an important part of this discussion, particularly when examining its spending decisions.

📋 WHAT DO THE NEXT TWO BUDGETS SHOW?

Comparing the 2025–26 final budget with the 2026–27 original budget:

🔹 Basic Instruction: +5.17% 
🔹 Added Needs Instruction: +12.94% 
🔹 General Administration: -3.98% 
🔹 School Administration: +8.16% 
🔹 Business Support: +3.39% 
🔹 Operations & Maintenance: +4.59%

Total budgeted revenues and expenditures increase from $6,632,000 to $6,864,205.

Both budgets are balanced as presented, with no projected overall surplus or deficit.

These are budget projections, not audited actual expenditures.

🔎 WHAT DID THE 2025 AUDIT FIND?

The independent auditor issued an unmodified opinion on the district's financial statements.

The audit also reported no material weaknesses or reportable noncompliance under its Government Auditing Standards testing.

However, the audit identified something else.

⚠️ A BUDGETARY VIOLATION.

According to the audit, expenditures exceeded appropriations in three categories:

🔸 Business Support: $835 over budget

🔸 Facilities Acquisition/Improvements: $30,774 over budget

🔸 Student Activities: $774 over budget

Combined, those overages totaled $32,383.

The audit states that the excess expenditures were covered by available fund balance and higher-than-anticipated revenues.

This distinction matters.

An unmodified audit opinion does not mean every expenditure remained within its approved budget. The auditor specifically documented these budgetary violations.

💵 WHERE IS THE REVENUE COMING FROM?

Northport's 2026–27 budget projects:

📈 Local Revenue: +6.18% 
📉 State Revenue: -7.17% 
📉 Federal Revenue: -2.64%

Local revenue represents the overwhelming majority of the district's projected General Fund revenue.

Northport operates as an out-of-formula district, making its local property tax base particularly important to its financial structure.

💭 THE BIGGER PICTURE
Over the course of our Northport review, we've documented:

🏫 Enrollment declining 27.45% over ten years.

📊 Actual administrative expenditures increasing 8.96% over the same decade.

👥 Administrative staffing declining from 3.00 to 2.00 FTE.

💰 A General Fund balance exceeding $4.2 million at the end of FY2025.

⚠️ Three expenditure categories identified in the audit as exceeding appropriations.

None of these figures should be examined in isolation.

Northport's substantial reserves are a sign of financial capacity, while the audit's budgetary findings raise a separate question about adherence to approved appropriations.

And that brings Lady B to a question worth asking:

With enrollment declining, substantial financial reserves, and changing expenditure priorities, how is Northport evaluating the balance between maintaining its financial position and directing resources toward the students it serves?

📚 SOURCES:
Northport Public School, June 30, 2025 Financial Audit.
Northport Public School, 2025–26 Final General Fund Budget.
Northport Public School, 2026–27 Original General Fund Budget.
Michigan Department of Education, Bulletins 1011 and 1014.

👑 Lady B | With Receipts and Respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #NorthportPublicSchool #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #FinancialTransparency #SchoolAudits #PublicEducation #EducationAccountability #FollowTheNumbers #TaxpayerTransparency

LADY BUDGETDOWN | NORTHPORT PUBLIC SCHOOL

💰 STEP 3: 2025 EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION

We've examined Northport Public School's enrollment, financial expenditures, and staffing changes over the past decade.

Now Lady B is looking at employee compensation.

Northport's publicly available 2025 Employee Compensation Transparency Report, hosted through Northwest Education Services, contains one employee entry reporting wages above $100,000.

That entry is identified as Thomas N. Wetherbee, Superintendent.

However, Northport's current staff directory identifies Neil Wetherbee as superintendent, while its Board of Education directory lists Thomas Wetherbee as a trustee.

That discrepancy is worth clarifying.

📊 WHAT DOES THE 2025 REPORT SHOW?

The compensation entry lists:

🔹 Salaries/Wages: $160,423.32

🔹 Mandatory Retirement: $58,281.11

🔹 Mandatory FICA: $12,272.39

🔹 Other Reported Benefits: $83,530.54

💰 Combined reported compensation and employer costs: $314,507.36

Of that amount, $160,423 represents reported salaries and wages, while the remaining $154,084 represents reported benefits and employer costs.

These figures should not be confused with take-home pay.

🏫 PUTTING THE NUMBERS IN CONTEXT

Northport reported 126.23 students in 2024–25.

Our previous comparisons also found:

📉 Student enrollment declined 27.45% over ten years.

📉 Administrative staffing declined from 3.00 to 2.00 FTE.

📈 Actual administrative expenditures increased 8.96% in nominal dollars.

Step 3 adds another piece to that financial picture by examining reported compensation for an individual administrative position.

💭 A QUESTION ABOUT TRANSPARENCY

The district's compensation report and current staff directory identify different individuals as superintendent.

Is this a reporting error, a difference in how the employee's name was recorded, or something else?

Clarifying that discrepancy would help residents understand exactly whose compensation is being reported.

The compensation figures alone do not establish whether the amount is appropriate or inappropriate. They document the salary, benefits, and employer costs reported in the district's transparency disclosure.

📚 SOURCES:
Northport Public School, FY2025 Employee Compensation Transparency Report, hosted through Northwest Education Services.
Northport Public School, Staff Directory and Board of Education Directory.
Michigan Department of Education, Bulletins 1011 and 1014.

👑 Lady B | With Receipts and Respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #NorthportPublicSchool #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #EmployeeCompensation #EducationTransparency #PublicEducation #FollowTheNumbers #TaxpayerTransparency

LADY BUDGETDOWN | NORTHPORT PUBLIC SCHOOL

📊 STEPS 2 & 2A: ENROLLMENT, STAFFING & ADMINISTRATIVE TRENDS

2014–15 vs. 2024–25

We've examined Northport Public School's financial changes over the past decade, including per-pupil expenditures and actual administrative spending.

Now Lady B is looking at staffing.

How has the district's workforce changed as enrollment has declined?

🏫 STUDENT ENROLLMENT

2014–15: 174 students 
2024–25: 126.23 students

📉 A decline of 47.77 students, or 27.45%.

That's a little more than one-quarter of the district's enrollment over ten years.

🍎 TEACHING STAFF

2014–15: 17.00 FTE 
2024–25: 13.72 FTE

A decrease of 19.29%.

While enrollment declined 27.45%, teacher staffing declined at a somewhat slower rate.

That distinction matters when examining staffing levels in a small district.

📋 OTHER STAFFING CATEGORIES

Michigan's REP staffing data also shows:

🔹 School Support: 1.00 to 1.91 FTE (+91.00%)

🔹 Other Support: 10.25 to 10.29 FTE (+0.39%)

Several additional staffing categories contain unavailable data for one of the comparison years, so Lady B is not assigning percentage changes where a reliable comparison cannot be made.

🏛� ADMINISTRATIVE STAFFING

Using NCES administrative staffing data:

District-Level Administrators:
2014–15: 1.98 FTE 
2024–25: 1.00 FTE 
Change: -49.49%

School Administrators:
2014–15: 1.02 FTE 
2024–25: 1.00 FTE 
Change: -1.96%

Total Administrators:
2014–15: 3.00 FTE 
2024–25: 2.00 FTE
📉 A decrease of 33.33%.

💰 CONNECTING THIS TO STEP 1A

In our previous comparison, Northport's actual administrative expenditures increased 8.96% over the decade, from approximately $719,942 to $784,459.

During that same period, reported administrative staffing declined from 3.00 to 2.00 FTE.

This is an important distinction.

Administrative expenditures include more than the salaries of employees classified as administrators. A reduction in administrative staffing does not necessarily produce an equivalent reduction in administrative expenditures.

💭 THE BIG PICTURE

Over ten years, Northport experienced:

📉 Enrollment: -27.45% 
📉 Teachers: -19.29% 
📉 Administrators: -33.33% 
📈 Actual Administrative Expenditures: +8.96%

These numbers provide context for understanding how Northport's staffing and financial structure have changed.

They do not, by themselves, establish whether the district is overstaffed, understaffed, or spending appropriately.

But they do help answer an important question: How has the district adjusted its staffing as the number of students it serves has declined?

📚 Sources: Michigan Department of Education Bulletin 1014, Michigan REP staffing data, NCES administrative staffing data, and MDE Bulletin 1011.

👑 Lady B | With Receipts and Respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #NorthportPublicSchool #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #SchoolStaffing #AdministrativeSpending #PublicEducation #FollowTheNumbers #TaxpayerTransparency

LADY BUDGETDOWN | NORTHPORT PUBLIC SCHOOL

📊 STEP 1A: A DECADE OF ADMINISTRATIVE SPENDING

2014–15 vs. 2024–25

In our previous post, Lady B examined Northport Public School's declining enrollment and changes in per-pupil revenue and expenditures.

Now we're looking at something different: actual administrative spending.

Using Michigan Department of Education Bulletin 1011, Lady B compared Northport's General Fund administrative expenditures over the same 10-year period.

💰 TOTAL ADMINISTRATIVE SPENDING

2014–15: $719,942 
2024–25: $784,459

That's an increase of $64,516, or 8.96%, over the decade.

But where did that increase occur?

📋 BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS

🔹 General Administration 
2014–15: $417,149 
2024–25: $450,450 
Increase: 7.98%

🔹 School Administration 
2014–15: $149,170 
2024–25: $180,235 
Increase: 20.82%

🔹 Business Administration 
2014–15: $153,623 
2024–25: $153,774 
Increase: 0.10%

School administration experienced the largest percentage increase, while business administration remained nearly unchanged.

🏫 NOW CONSIDER ENROLLMENT

Over this same period, Northport's student enrollment declined from 174 to 126.23, a decrease of 27.45%.

Despite serving fewer students, the district's total administrative expenditures increased modestly in nominal dollars.

However, there is another important distinction.

Administrative expenditures represented approximately 17.67% of current operating expenditures in 2014–15, compared with 16.21% in 2024–25.

That means administration accounted for a smaller share of operating expenditures at the end of the decade.

💭 WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

In Step 1, we reported that Northport's business and administration spending per pupil increased 68.87%.

Step 1A provides additional context.

Actual administrative expenditures increased just 8.96% over the decade, while enrollment declined substantially.

These are different financial measures, drawn from different MDE reporting categories, and they should not be confused.

A rising per-pupil figure does not necessarily mean total spending is increasing at the same rate.

📚 SOURCE: Michigan Department of Education, Bulletin 1011, General Fund expenditures, 2014–15 and 2024–25.

Lady B will continue examining Northport's staffing and administrative structure in our next comparison.

👑 Lady B | With Receipts and Respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #NorthportPublicSchool #MichiganEducation #SchoolFinance #AdministrativeSpending #EducationTransparency #PublicEducation #FollowTheNumbers #MichiganSchools #TaxpayerTransparency

 LADY BUDGETDOWN | NORTHPORT PUBLIC SCHOOL

📊 10 YEARS OF FINANCIAL CHANGE

2014–15 vs. 2024–25

What has changed over the past decade at Northport Public School?

Using data from the Michigan Department of Education's Bulletin 1014, Lady B compared enrollment, per-pupil revenue, expenditures, and average teacher salaries over a 10-year period.

🏫 STUDENT ENROLLMENT

2014–15: 174 students 
2024–25: 126.23 students

📉 A decline of 47.77 students, or 27.45%.

While enrollment declined, several financial measures moved in the opposite direction.

💰 PER-PUPIL REVENUE

2014–15: $22,853 
2024–25: $50,983

An increase of 123.09%, or 65.04% after adjusting for inflation.

📊 PER-PUPIL EXPENDITURES

Over the same decade:

🔹 Total Instruction: +68.18% 
🔹 Instructional Support: +19.09% 
🔹 Business & Administration: +68.87% 
🔹 Operations & Maintenance: +91.90%

After adjusting for inflation, instructional support spending per pupil actually declined 11.90%, while business and administration increased 24.93%.

🍎 AVERAGE TEACHER SALARY

2014–15: $63,574 
2024–25: $83,147

That's a nominal increase of 30.79%.

However, after adjusting for inflation, average teacher salary declined 3.24% in purchasing power.

💭 WHAT DO THESE NUMBERS TELL US?

Northport serves approximately 27% fewer students than it did a decade ago, while its revenue and several expenditure categories have increased substantially on a per-pupil basis.

It's important to remember that declining enrollment can increase per-pupil figures even when total district spending changes much less dramatically.

These figures do not, by themselves, establish whether spending is appropriate or inappropriate. They provide a documented look at how the district's finances have changed.

Lady B believes the numbers are worth examining, particularly how resources are distributed between classroom instruction, student support, administration, and operations.

📚 Source: Michigan Department of Education, Bulletin 1014, 2014–15 and 2024–25. Inflation adjustments use the cumulative CPI-U increase of 35.831185%.

More Northport comparisons to follow.

👑 Lady B — Receipts. Respect. Transparency.

#LadyBudgetdown #NorthportPublicSchool #MichiganEducation #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #PublicEducation #FollowTheNumbers #TaxpayerTransparency #MichiganSchools

LADY BUDGETDOWN: OTTAWA ISD — IS THIS REALLY TRANSPARENCY?

📂 Public financial records are supposed to be accessible to the public. But accessible and usable are two different things.

I recently visited Ottawa Area ISD's financial transparency website to review its publicly posted records.

Here's what I encountered:

📌 Accounts Payable Check Register — Unable to download or copy the spreadsheet data.

📌 Employee Compensation Report — Unable to download.

📌 Other financial documents — Similar difficulties downloading the records.

📌 Financial Audit — The ONLY document I was able to successfully download.

⏰ After spending more than 30 minutes trying different methods to access these records, I finally gave up.

And that raises a simple question.

If taxpayers can VIEW public financial information but cannot easily download, save, sort, or independently analyze it, how useful is that transparency?

I'm not suggesting Ottawa ISD is violating any laws. And I'm certainly not suggesting anything improper about the financial information itself.

But transparency should be more than checking a box on a website.

💬 Ottawa Area ISD, why make it so difficult for the public to download and examine financial records that you've already made available online?

And I'm curious...

Has anyone else encountered similar problems trying to access financial records on a Michigan school district's transparency website?

👒 Lady B believes public information should be practical for the public to use.

#LadyBudgetdown #OttawaAreaISD #SchoolTransparency #PublicRecords #MichiganEducation #TaxpayerTransparency #FollowTheNumbers

 SAGINAW COUNTY: LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CTE MILLAGE!

Lady B has spent considerable time examining administrative compensation and public spending at Saginaw Intermediate School District. But there's another issue on the November 3 ballot that deserves some attention.

Career and Technical Education (CTE). 🔧🚗🩺

And I want to make an important distinction.

Questions about a superintendent's compensation and questions about the value of career and technical education are TWO SEPARATE conversations.

One does not have to determine the other.

📋 WHAT ARE VOTERS BEING ASKED TO APPROVE?

Saginaw ISD is asking voters to renew its Career and Technical Education millage for another 10 years, from 2028 through 2037.
Here's the breakdown:

💰 Existing millage renewal: 0.9962 mills

💰 Restoration of previous Headlee reductions: 0.0038 mills

💰 Total proposed millage: 1.0000 mill

💰 Estimated first-year revenue (2028): Approximately $7.08 million

This is primarily a renewal of an existing tax, with a small restoration to bring the rate back to 1 mill.

🔎 WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

I reviewed Saginaw ISD's FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and its FY2027 Preliminary Budget.

The district maintains a separate Vocational Education Fund.

For FY2027, that fund projects:

📊 $7,106,120 in local revenue

📊 $962,143 in state revenue

📊 $556,672 in federal revenue

That's approximately $8.62 million in projected annual revenue from all sources, not just the millage.

The district's financial report also identifies planned investments at the Saginaw Career Complex, including:

🔧 An advanced-manufacturing lab

🩺 A medical and healthcare wing

🚗 Improvements to the automotive technology lab

These are examples of the facilities and educational opportunities supported through vocational education funding.

❓ WHAT ABOUT THE SUPERINTENDENT'S COMPENSATION?

This question deserves a factual answer, especially given my previous coverage.

The FY2027 preliminary budget shows no direct appropriation under General Administration in the Vocational Education Fund.

However, the publicly available financial statements do not provide the payroll-level detail necessary to conclusively determine whether any portion of the superintendent's compensation is indirectly allocated to that fund.

I'm not going to claim something the records cannot establish.

And I'm certainly not going to suggest that questions about administrative compensation automatically mean the CTE program itself lacks value.

⚖️ ACCOUNTABILITY STILL MATTERS.

My previous reporting on Saginaw ISD's administrative spending and financial accountability still stands.

The district's repeated audit findings remain legitimate concerns. In fact, its FY2025 Single Audit identifies a recurring material weakness involving budget overages across multiple funds, including Vocational Education. That finding traces back through seven consecutive audit years.

Those findings deserve attention, regardless of the programs being funded.

But those issues should be examined alongside, rather than substituted for, the documented purpose and operation of the CTE program.

Recognizing the value of educational opportunities does not mean overlooking financial accountability.

And asking questions about financial accountability does not mean dismissing the opportunities available to students.

Both can be true.

🎓 WHY DOES CTE MATTER?

Not every student chooses a four-year college.

Career and technical education offers opportunities to explore skilled trades, manufacturing, automotive technology, healthcare, and other career pathways.

Those opportunities deserve to be understood on their own merits.

💬 HERE'S MY QUESTION FOR SAGINAW COUNTY:

Have you or your children participated in programs at the Saginaw Career Complex?

What opportunities did those programs provide? What worked well? What could be improved?

I'd especially like to hear firsthand experiences from students, parents, graduates, and local employers.

Lady B isn't endorsing or opposing this millage.

My purpose is to share the financial information, ask questions, and encourage voters to examine the proposal for themselves.

Administrative accountability matters. So does understanding the programs our tax dollars support.

Neither conversation should silence the other.

📚 Sources: Saginaw ISD FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, FY2025 Single Audit, FY2027 Preliminary Budget, and November 3, 2026 CTE millage ballot language.

#LadyBudgetdown #SaginawISD #SaginawCounty #CareerTechnicalEducation #SaginawCareerComplex #CTE #SchoolMillage #SchoolTransparency #FollowTheMoney #MichiganSchools