Fowlerville Community Schools - 2024-25 Accounts Payable

[Shadowninja]

Dearest reader,
Lady B is back in Fowlerville Community Schools, and today I'm opening another ledger.
💰 STEP 4: FOLLOWING THE CHECKBOOK
We've examined enrollment, staffing, administrative expenditures, and employee compensation.

Now let's see where some of those taxpayer dollars went.

I reviewed Fowlerville Community Schools' 2024–25 accounts payable records, covering July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

And there are a few payments worth discussing. 🔎

⚖️ LEGAL SERVICES

Thrun Law Firm, P.C.
Total Payments: $90,946.73

Nearly $91,000 in legal services during one fiscal year.

What matters did those payments cover? Labor negotiations? Personnel issues? Board counsel? Litigation?

The check register doesn't tell us.

📋 CONSULTING & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

• Maner Costerisan: $42,873.63
• Jill Hanke Westenkirchner LLC: $12,908.49
• Silver Strong & Associates: $10,200.00
• RWorm Consulting: $7,908.76
• Foxbright Solutions: $6,195.00
• DocuSign: $4,615.78
• Spark Hire: $3,988.00
• NEOLA: $3,545.00

Combined: $92,314.66

These vendors provide a variety of services, including accounting, professional development, technology, recruiting, and policy support.

Some may directly support educators and students. Others support district operations.

But the check register doesn't explain precisely what was purchased with each payment.

🏨 HOTELS & HOSPITALITY

• Hilton Garden Inn: $804.46
• Delta Hotels Marriott, Kalamazoo: $1,219.05
• Kiwi Hospitality Detroit LLC: $1,632.54
• Sleep Inn: $1,894.20

Combined: $5,550.25

Who traveled? Where? For what purpose?

Were these conferences, training sessions, athletics, or student-related trips?

The payment records don't identify the travelers or purposes, so I'm not assuming these were administrative trips.

📊 MUNETRIX

One additional payment caught my attention.

Munetrix LLC: $10,347.00

Munetrix provides financial transparency and data analytics tools used by public entities.

It's worth asking what services Fowlerville purchased and how those services are being used.

💵 THE FOUR CATEGORIES COMBINED:

$199,158.64

That's nearly $200,000 in selected payments for legal services, consulting and professional services, hotels, and Munetrix during one fiscal year.

To be clear, this is NOT a complete accounting of administrative spending. Some payments may support classrooms, students, or districtwide operations.

And an expenditure appearing in a public check register doesn't automatically make it unnecessary or wasteful.

But here's what I find interesting.

In Step 1A, we learned that Fowlerville's administrative expenditures increased 31.14% between 2014–15 and 2024–25.

In Step 2A, we learned that reported administrative staffing actually declined 2.61%.

And now, in Step 4, we're seeing some of the outside vendors receiving district funds.

These are different financial measures, and we cannot assume these vendor payments explain the ten-year increase.

Still, they provide another piece of the puzzle.

💬 SO, HERE'S MY QUESTION:

When taxpayers review a school district's checkbook, should they be able to see more than a vendor name and a dollar amount?

Shouldn't they also be able to understand what services were purchased and how those expenditures benefited the district?

I believe transparency means more than showing us who received a check.

It means helping the public understand what their money purchased.

No accusations. No assumptions.

Just another look at the receipts.

With receipts and respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #FowlervilleCommunitySchools #LivingstonCounty #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #PublicSpending #EducationTransparency #SchoolAdministration #TaxpayerAccountability #PublicEducation #FollowTheReceipts