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.

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