Dearest reader,

Step 5 of the Plainwell Community Schools ledger takes us inside the district's FY2026 check register. And this time, two very different categories caught my attention.

First: capital projects.

In the capital-project payments I isolated, Plainwell issued $2,469,706.11 in checks.

Of that:

Beckering Construction received $2,180,049.11 across five payments.

Total Fire & Security received $289,657.00 in one payment.

The descriptions attached to those capital expenditures identify work involving:

Plainwell Stadium
Middle-school gym and building improvements
High-school site improvements
Field house improvements
Starr and Cooper elementary-school work

Now, before anyone runs away with that number, an important distinction:

Capital-project spending is not the same thing as ordinary General Fund operating spending.

Plainwell has had multiple bond proposals over the years, and I'm not assigning the source of these dollars, or connecting these expenditures to any particular bond, until I trace that separately.

That breadcrumb is sitting on my desk for later.

The second category was Community Relations.

Through February 4, I identified $34,733.77 in Community Relations expenditures in the register.

That included:

Apptegy - $15,324.75
Thrillshare Media Services / Community Relations Contracted Services.

River Run Press - $9,644.67
Including Back to School spending coded to Community Relations Supplies.

River Run Press - $9,244.35
"School Matters," coded to Community Relations Printing.

One more piece of context matters here.

Although the document is labeled the FY2026 check register, the copy we're examining was generated on February 4, 2026.

So these aren't necessarily final full-year totals.

And I'm not labeling either category good or bad.

I'm showing you what the district's own check register says was paid, what those payments were coded for, and where the money went.

Because sometimes the most interesting part of a ledger isn't one check.

It's what happens when you start grouping the checks together.

And I've already put a few more breadcrumbs aside from this one.

Sources:
Plainwell Community Schools - FY2026 Check Register, generated February 4, 2026.
Plainwell Community Schools - Community Relations expenditures contained within FY2026 Check Register.

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