Monroe County Education Association

10/23/2026

We have gotten word that Gov. Whitmer may opt in to Trump's (and Betsy Devos's) federal voucher scheme as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA). This would allow up to $5 BILLION in public dollars to be used on private school funding. Our public schools are already hurting, and allowing priv...

10/23/2026

Love your librarian? Of course you do! ❤️

Nominations are now open for the 2027 I Love My Librarian Award. Ten librarians will win $5,000, and your librarian could be one of them!

Submit your nomination online by Friday, December 18. Learn more and submit your nomination: https://bit.ly/3yiyT9C

The I Love My Librarian Award is made possible with support from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation and the New York Public Library.

10/23/2026

Start Planning

10/23/2026

We've learned that voters in at least 4 different Michigan cities are getting texts from someone pretending to be a school board candidate, misrepresenting the candidate’s values and views. A common theme in these false messages is centered on FLOCK cameras. In these instances, the text message will say that a certain candidate supports increased surveillance on school campuses, and asks folks to vote for them if they want secure school buildings.

If you have received a text message that is misrepresenting a school board candidate, please let us know! We are collecting screenshots, school district info, and sharing it with the Attorney General. Send any info to [email protected]!

10/23/2026

10/23/2026

It’s getting to be that spooky time of year around the Monroe County Education Association.

10/23/2026

🪶 LADY BUDGETDOWN | EVERY VOICE MATTERS

Dearest readers,

I’ve been thinking about something, and I’ve decided to give it a try!

I’d like to start featuring letters from readers right here on Lady Budgetdown. Think of it as a little “Letters to the Editor” section.

Have an opinion about school funding? Bonds? Millages? School budgets? Maybe you have a perspective that hasn’t been heard, or perhaps you see something differently than I do.

I want to hear it!

Here’s how it will work:

✉️ Readers can submit their letters through Facebook Messenger, although email is my preferred method.

📜 I’ll select letters to feature on the Lady Budgetdown page.

🪶 You can remain completely anonymous if you choose.

📌 Selected letters will be pinned to the page for seven days.

These are YOUR letters, YOUR opinions, and YOUR perspectives. I won’t be investigating, fact-checking, or rewriting your arguments.

The only rules? No politics, no personal attacks, and no attacking Lady B. Respectful disagreement is absolutely welcome!

Publishing a letter does not mean I agree or disagree with its contents. It simply means someone has a perspective they’d like to share.

You don’t have to agree with Lady B to have a voice here.

After all, isn’t that what transparency and open discussion should be about?

Every voice matters. 💙

With receipts and respect,

Lady Budgetdown 🪶

10/22/2026

10/22/2026

Around 200 people packed Monday's Midland Public Schools Board of Education meeting, where the board heard 19 people give public comments.
Click the link in the comments 👇️

10/22/2026

📜 LADY BUDGETDOWN | MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
NOVEMBER 2026 BOND PROPOSAL
PART 1 OF 3 — THE DEBT 💰

Dearest readers,

It’s time to take another trip down the bond rabbit hole! 🐇

This time, I’m looking at Meridian Public Schools in Midland County and its November 2026 bond proposal.

As with my previous district reviews, I’m using the district’s own Form 3881 application submitted to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Let’s start with the debt.

📌 EXISTING BOND DEBT

According to the district’s application, Meridian already has $24,360,000 in outstanding qualified bond principal.

But remember, principal isn’t the entire cost of borrowing.

The existing bond repayment schedule shows:

• Outstanding principal: $24,360,000

• Scheduled interest: $12,000,256

• Total scheduled principal and interest: $36,360,256

That’s approximately $36.36 million in existing scheduled bond payments.

📌 THE PROPOSED 2027 BOND

The district is seeking voter approval for additional borrowing.

According to the financing schedule:

• Proposed bond principal: $13,950,000

• Estimated interest: $7,112,160

• Total estimated principal and interest: $21,062,160

The estimated true interest cost is 4.40%, with a financing term of approximately 17 years and 2 months.

In other words, the proposed $13.95 million borrowing would carry approximately $7.11 million in interest under the district’s projections.

📊 EXISTING + PROPOSED BOND PAYMENTS

Here’s what happens when I combine the scheduled principal and interest on the existing and proposed qualified bonds:

Existing bond payments: $36,360,256

Proposed bond payments: $21,062,160

Combined scheduled bond payments: $57,422,416

That’s approximately $57.42 million in scheduled principal and interest.

This figure represents the combined bond repayment schedules, not the amount of new borrowing alone.

And there’s another piece of the financing picture.

🐇 THE SCHOOL BOND LOAN FUND

Meridian’s application also includes projections involving Michigan’s School Bond Loan Fund.

This program allows qualifying districts to borrow from the state under certain circumstances to help meet scheduled bond payments.

Those loans carry their own repayment obligations and interest.

The district’s projections show:

• Estimated SBLF interest with the proposed bond: $3,472,446

• Estimated SBLF interest without the proposed bond: $1,670,481

• Difference in projected SBLF interest: $1,801,965

That’s approximately $1.80 million in additional projected School Bond Loan Fund interest between the two scenarios.

These loan-fund projections are presented separately from the $57.42 million in scheduled bond payments to avoid mixing different financing calculations.

📌 WHAT ABOUT THE MILLAGE?

The application projects an initial debt millage of 7.00 mills with the proposed bond.

But as we’ve discussed in previous bond reviews, maintaining an existing millage rate doesn’t necessarily mean there is no financial difference between approving and rejecting additional borrowing.

That depends on what the district projects the millage would be without the new bond.

I’ll examine that comparison separately in a shorter follow-up post.

❓ QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING

As always, I’m not suggesting that school districts shouldn’t borrow money for necessary improvements.

Buildings age. Major repairs and renovations can be expensive. Bonds are an established way to finance eligible capital projects.

But borrowing also comes with long-term financial commitments.

So I think it’s reasonable for taxpayers to ask:

How much existing debt remains?

How much additional interest will the proposed borrowing generate?

How does the School Bond Loan Fund affect the district’s repayment obligations?

And what happens to the debt millage over the next decade with and without the proposed bond?

Those are financial questions, not recommendations on how anyone should vote.

📜 COMING NEXT

I’ll follow this post with a shorter comparison of Meridian’s projected debt millage with and without the proposed bond.

Then, in Part 2, I’ll examine where the proposed bond money would go, including project allocations, professional fees, and contingencies.

Part 3 will look at enrollment projections and building utilization.

All figures in this post come from Meridian Public Schools’ June 2026 Form 3881 application and its accompanying financing schedules. They are estimates and projections, not final borrowing results.

With receipts and respect,

Lady Budgetdown 🪶