This is a data analysis of the General Fund Equity levels of traditional public school systems in the State of Michigan following the 2012-13 school/fiscal year. The analysis focus additionally on Fund Equity in the Grosse Pointe Public School System.

1. Michigan Public School
Districts and GPPSS Fund
Equity Analysis
BRENDAN WALSH - WWW.BRENDANWALSH.US
FEBRUARY 1, 2015

2. Disclaimer and notes
 This report and those like them are
developed by the author alone.
 The author has no official affiliation
with the Grosse Pointe Public School
System (GPPSS) other than as a
resident, taxpayer and parent of
students.
 All data used in this report are from
the State of Michigan and GPPSS
publicly available data.
About the author:
Brendan Walsh served on the
Grosse Pointe Public School
System Board of Education from
2005 to 2013.
He served as President from
2006 to 2008, Vice President in
2009, and Treasurer from 2010
through 2013.
He resides in Grosse Pointe,
Michigan and maintains a
website where he writes about
issues relating to the GPPSS.
www.brendanwalsh.us
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3. Introduction
 Traditional Public School Districts
mean non-charter schools.
 No charter school data are
referenced in this report.
 All data used herein is in reference to
all districts’ General Fund only.
 Fund Equity percentages are stated
as a percentage of districts’ General
Fund Expenditures and Transfers
 Years stated indicate the financial
year ending that year (e.g. 2013
refers to the 2012-13 school year).
For more information on
GPPSS financial
performance in the 2013-14
budget year, please review
my previous analysis.
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4. Statewide distribution of districts by
annual revenue (550 total)
4
1
21
37
90
189
112
100
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Detroit $100M to $250M $50M to $100M $25M to $50M $10M to $25M $5M to $10M <$5M
GPPSS
Category
$700M+

5. Average Fund Equity of statewide
district categories by revenue
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-12.9%
8.9%
5.9%
7.5%
11.3%
13.4%
17.4%
Detroit $100M to $250M $50M to $100M $25M to $50M $10M to $25M $5M to $10M <$5M
$700M+
GPPSS
Category
Explanation: Of the 37 districts with annual revenues between
$50 and $100 million, the average fund equity is 5.9%.

6. Dramatic changes from 2005 to 2013
(data for all MI school districts)
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$14.4 $13.5$14.3 $13.6
2005 2013
Total Annual Expenses and
Revenue (in billions)
Revenues Expenditures
$1.8
$1.1
2005 2013
Ending Fund Balance – All
LEA Districts Total (in billions)
• 12.6%
avg.
Fund
Equity
2005
• 7.9%
avg.
Fund
Equity
2013

7. GPPSS General Fund Expenses and
Revenues 2005 to 2014
$95.5
$103.2
$106.0
$100.8
$104.2
$103.0
$95.4
$96.3
$107.2
$100.1
$96.6
$99.2
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Total Expenses and Transfers Total Revenue
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$3.7M actual
surplus in 2014
$2.2M surplus
budgeted in 2015
Numbers in millions

8. GPPSS Fund Equity – 2005 to 2014
16.5%
14.0%
18.0%
19.7% 19.4%
16.6%
14.0%
6.0%
2.0%
6.1%
8.3%
10.9%
12.3%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015* 2016* 2017*
2013 State Avg. for
all MI districts (7.8%)
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*GPPSS Projections
2013 Avg. for districts
of GPPSS size (5.9%)

9. Various Statistics
In 2013, 61% of state districts
ran deficits.
43 districts (7.5% of all) have
a negative fund balance
Districts that ran deficits in
2013 consumed $269M of
fund equity in aggregate.
211 districts ran a surplus in
2013 adding a total of
$129M back to fund equity.
In 2013 among 37 districts
similar in size to GPPSS ($50M
to $100M) only 15 have Fund
Equity above 10%.
13 of those ran deficits in
2013. The average deficit
among them was $1.2 M.
The average fund equity
among all 37 of the districts
is 5.9%
GPPSS’ 2014 fund equity is
6.1%. - will exceed 10%
within 2 years.
GPPSS’ $3.7M surplus in 2014
would rank 7th highest on
the 2013 list.
The projected 2015 surplus of
$2.2M would rank 12th
highest 0n 2013 list.
Only 12 districts ran a deficit
in 2013 greater than GPPSS’
$4.2M.
In GPPSS, the operational
turnaround from 2013 to
2014 was $7.9M.
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10. Summary
 Statewide data shows that a clear majority of Michigan districts continue
to struggle with financial challenges of the Lost Decade.
 Aggregate fund equity reductions (12.9% to 7.8%) from 2005 to 2013 show
most districts have not reduced expenses commensurate with their
revenue loss.
 With 61% of districts continuing to operate at annual deficits, most districts
have serious cost cutting efforts ahead of them.
 GPPSS’ cost reductions enabled via the employee contracts of 2010 and
2013 are rapidly replenishing the fund equity losses of 2008 to 2013. (Full
summary of these can be found here.)
 With a $3.7M surplus in 2014 and a $2.2M projected surplus in 2015 (and
beyond), GPPSS continues rapid return to financial strength.
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