NOVI: A LOOK AT THE PEERS

[Shadowninja]

 LADY BUDGETDOWN | NOVI: A LOOK AT THE PEERS

Dear Readers,

One should always be cautious when selecting one's company.

At last night's Board of Education presentation, Novi Community School District identified ten districts as its peer school districts while discussing employee compensation and its goal of approaching the 75th percentile among those peers.

Lady Budgetdown was curious.

If these are the districts Novi has chosen for comparison, what happens when we compare something else?

So rather than selecting a different group, I kept Novi's group and turned to standardized 2024–25 National Center for Education Statistics data.

The measure: district-administrator FTE per 1,000 students.

Bloomfield Hills - 29.5 administrators | 4,967 students | 5.94 per 1,000

Grandville - 19 | 5,547 | 3.43

Novi - 23 | 6,770 | 3.40

Birmingham - 20.72 | 7,424 | 2.79

Okemos - 11 | 4,651 | 2.37

Kentwood - 21 | 9,631 | 2.18

Rockford - 15 | 7,509 | 2.00

Northville - 14 | 7,022 | 1.99

Troy - 24 | 12,283 | 1.95

Grosse Pointe - 12 | 6,419 | 1.87

Forest Hills - 15 | 8,838 | 1.70

The comparison does not establish that Novi has too many administrators. Districts organize themselves differently, and staffing numbers alone cannot tell us whether a particular position is necessary.

But the comparison does tell us something worth noting:

Among Novi and the ten peer districts Novi selected, Novi has the third-highest number of district-administrator FTE per 1,000 students. Eight of Novi's ten selected peers report a lower rate.

And some comparisons deserve a second glance.

Northville serves slightly more students than Novi, yet reports 14 district-administrator FTE compared with Novi's 23. NCES reports Northville at 7,022 students. (National Center for Education Statistics)

Troy serves 12,283 students - 5,513 more than Novi, or roughly 81% more - yet reports 24 district-administrator FTE. Novi reports 23. (National Center for Education Statistics)

And Bloomfield Hills provides an important counterexample: it serves only 4,967 students and reports 29.5 district-administrator FTE, substantially higher than Novi. (National Center for Education Statistics)

There is no need to select districts that make Novi look favorable or unfavorable. Novi selected these peers.

And if peer comparisons are useful when discussing compensation, perhaps those same peers are also useful when examining the administrative structure those compensation dollars support.

No accusation.

No conclusion.

Just another question from the ledger:

As Novi considers personnel reductions to address its budget challenges, what can it learn from the administrative staffing structures of the very districts it considers its peers?

The company one keeps can be quite informative, Dear Readers.

With receipts and respect. 📜🪶

Novi Community School District