Dearest reader,

We have looked at the money. Now let us look at the people behind the numbers at Trenton Public Schools.

Over the same decade in which Trenton's pupil count declined just 2.63% from 2,681 to 2,610.46 the district's staffing picture changed considerably.

According to Michigan REP staffing data:

Teachers increased from 112.25 to 138.60 FTE — up 23.47%.

Instructional aides increased 125.60%.

Guidance increased 66.67%.

School support increased 62.28%.

Student support increased 31.58%.

And the broad Other Support category increased from 26.03 to 72.38 FTE — up 178.06%.

Then Lady Budgetdown pulled a second set of receipts.

NCES data show total district staffing increased from 267.65 to 370.48 FTE — an increase of 38.42% over the decade.

Administrative staffing tells a more specific story.

Total administrators increased from 17.25 to 18.53 FTE — 7.42%.

But underneath that total, the direction differed:

District/Central Administrators: 7.00 → 9.00, +28.57%

School/Building Administrators: 10.25 → 9.53, -7.02%

So put the decade together:

📉 Pupils: -2.63%
📈 Teachers: +23.47%
📈 Total Administrators: +7.42%
📈 District/Central Administrators: +28.57%
📈 Total Staff: +38.42%

That does not tell us whether every added position was necessary, unnecessary, good, bad, or somewhere in between.

It does tell us something useful: Trenton was serving slightly fewer pupils in 2024–25 than it was a decade earlier, while employing substantially more staff overall.

And remember our first set of receipts: during that same period, inflation-adjusted revenue per pupil increased 13.51%, Business & Administration per pupil increased 25.75%, while average teacher salary lost 29.75% of its purchasing power.

Now the breadcrumbs are beginning to form a trail.

Onward we go. 🪶

Sources: Michigan Department of Education/CEPI Registry of Educational Personnel (REP), 2014–15 and 2024–25; National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Common Core of Data (CCD), district staffing data; MDE Bulletin 1014 for pupil and financial data.

With receipts and respect.

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