Troy Hall Monitor

09/29/2026

Dr. Theresa Brooks (formerly Oney-Marlow) has a clear record: when insurance companies needed a doctor to help cut off benefits for injured Michiganders, they hired her.

In one case, she examined a woman who had been hurt in a car accident. The woman’s own surgeon warned she risked paralysis without further surgery. Imaging showed problems next to her injury site. Her treating doctors said she still needed care.

Brooks reviewed the same records… and recommended the insurance company stop paying. The Michigan Court of Appeals later said her recommendation “ignored significant medical evidence.”

That’s not independent medicine. That’s what happens when doctors get paid by insurance companies to look for reasons to deny claims. Insurance companies that screw over everyday people have repeatedly relied on Theresa Brooks.

Special interests first. Michiganders last.

Michiganders can’t trust Theresa Brooks in the State Senate.

09/28/2026

TROY DEMOCRATS: WHERE ARE YOUR STANDARDS? 🤔

So let me get this straight. Someone publicly says he’s “not interested in Troy Dems,” calls them “too many sh*theads,” and now the Troy Democratic Club is endorsing him?

Seriously? THIS is who you’re putting your name behind?

Was all that criticism just fine as long as he eventually became useful to you? Or does the club simply have no standards when it comes to endorsements?

The hypocrisy is hard to miss.

Apparently, talking down about the club isn’t a dealbreaker!

Watch the video in the comments. The receipts speak for themselves.

09/25/2026

WALT COOK: NONPARTISAN OR PARTISAN?

Which one is it, Walt?

In one post, you emphasize that school board is a nonpartisan position and highlight that your campaign has not accepted contributions from political parties or partisan PACs.

In another, you publicly praise the Troy Democratic Club, thank them for allowing you to volunteer at their booth, and promote your participation in their events.

So which version of Walt Cook should Troy voters believe?

Is this a genuine commitment to nonpartisanship, or does it only apply when it's politically convenient?

When your words and actions appear to contradict each other, voters have every right to ask questions about your consistency, transparency, and integrity.

If you're asking families to trust you to make decisions for ALL students, shouldn't you be willing to explain why your message changes depending on the audience?

Troy families deserve honesty, consistency, and answers.

09/24/2026

Why would any Michigan legislator vote against requiring the American flag in our public schools and classrooms? Sharon MacDonell voted NO yesterday!

HB 6302 simply says school districts and public school academies must:
• Buy and fly a proper outdoor U.S. flag (minimum 4’2” × 8’) with a pole
• Display it during school hours (indoors when the weather’s bad)
• Put a standard 2’ × 3’ flag in every classroom where kids recite the Pledge of Allegiance
It passed 76–27.

So to the 27 who voted no, including Sharon MacDonell:

You’re telling kids the flag that stands for the country that protects their freedom isn’t important enough to require in the very schools those kids attend?

Most schools already do this. This bill just makes sure every public school and charter follows through. Voting against it isn’t “nuance” or “local control.” It’s choosing to side against a basic symbol of the United States in the places where the next generation is educated.

If you can’t support the American flag in American classrooms, what exactly do you stand for?

08/26/2026

Dearest reader… another note has found its way to Lady Budgetdown’s ledger. 🪶📜

This time, we are off to Troy.

This district is proposing cuts, teachers may be up for a reopener (I’m not sure). Either way can the district afford an increase?

Well now. You know what happens when someone asks Lady Budgetdown a question involving money.

The ledger opens. 👀

Troy finished 2024–25 with an audited General Fund balance of $33.71 million, or 17.41% of expenditures.

That is important because Troy’s own policy calls for a minimum General Fund balance of 15%.

Looking forward, however, the picture changes.

The district projects its fund balance falling to 13.59% in 2025–26 and 13.42% in 2026–27, both below its stated 15% minimum.

And while the ledger was already open, your Lady took one small peek at the ten-year staffing numbers.

Teachers: down 0.4%
Instructional aides/paras: down 32.6%
Central administrators: up 30%
School administrators: down 9.7%
Enrollment decreased from approximately 12,563 students in 2014–15 to 12,249 in 2024–25, a 2.5%, decline over the decade.

Now, dearest reader, there are receipts on both sides of this particular ledger.

Troy ended the last audited year above its own fund-balance minimum. It is also projecting deficits that would take it below that minimum over the next two years.

And budgets, as we have learned repeatedly on our little travels together, are projections. Audits tell us where the carriage actually landed.

So Lady Budgetdown shall not decide what Troy can afford.

I have merely placed the numbers upon the table, straightened the papers, and returned the quill to its inkpot.

Can Troy afford an increase?

You decide. 👑🪶

With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown

08/25/2026

LADY BUDGETDOWN: TROY SCHOOL DISTRICT

A rabbit hole doesn’t always uncover something wrong. Sometimes it simply shows what happens when a school district has to make difficult financial decisions.

Troy School District entered its 2026–27 budget process looking for approximately $12 million in reductions.

A June budget-reduction document identified 37 proposals totaling approximately $11.64 million.

Among the proposals:

• $1.5 million minimum anticipated savings from an employee buyout
• 2 administrative positions — $258,050
• Elementary/high-school attendance secretary reductions — $386,326
• 5 elementary general-education teaching positions — $783,000
• Elementary math specialists — $522,000
• 10 secondary general-education teaching positions — $870,000
• Secondary math specialists — $278,400
• Secondary literacy specialists — $278,400
• 2 high-school counselor positions — $261,000
• Student Support Aides — $1.33 million

But here’s the part I found more interesting than the cuts themselves:

Troy didn’t simply make a list and call it finished.

The district evaluated proposed reductions using student-learning impact, equity, legal/compliance risk, financial savings, feasibility and stakeholder support. And as the process continued, some proposed reductions were modified or restored.

That’s what a budget-reduction process actually looks like.

It raises a question I think is worth asking whenever a district says cuts are necessary:

What was considered, what was ultimately cut, what was protected, and why?

Not every rabbit hole ends with a gotcha.

Sometimes the receipts simply provide a useful example for comparison.

08/20/2026

🚨Breaking: Ed Ross also known as Caption Chaos has a best buddy Walt Cook running for the Troy School Board.

One specializes in suing the city and online drama.

The other wants your vote so badly he pretends to be who he isn’t.

Two clowns. One mission. Create chaos for the Troy City and Schools.

Troy deserves leadership, not theatrics!

08/20/2026

Interesting..

🪶 TROY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Well, Troy. I opened the ten-year staffing ledger, and one row earned a circle. ⭕

From 2014–15 to 2024–25:

👥 Pupils
12,642 → 12,249.25
↓ 3.1%

🍎 Teachers
724.72 → 731.62 FTE
↑ 1.0%

📚 Instructional aides / paras
82.02 → 112.20 FTE
↑ 36.8%

🏫 Building administration
66.25 → 59.80 FTE
↓ 9.7%

And then there is this:

🏛️ District / central administration
17.00 → 24.00 FTE
↑ 41.2%

That doesn’t tell me those positions weren’t needed. It doesn’t tell me what responsibilities moved from the buildings to the district level. And it doesn’t tell me whether positions were added, eliminated, reorganized or simply classified differently over ten years.

But it does leave me with a question.

While enrollment declined 3.1% and building administration declined 9.7%, what changed at the district level that resulted in central administration growing 41.2%?

Maybe there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.

That’s why I ask before I assume. 🪶

If you’re familiar with Troy and know what changed during this period, positions added, responsibilities shifted, departments reorganized, bring the receipts.

I’ll happily add them to the ledger.

With receipts & respect.

08/19/2026

A Troy school board candidate really said this??
😬😳

08/17/2026

https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/news/oakland-county-shoots-down-school-millage

Tax initiative would have allowed unrestricted use of funds in district where per-pupil funding has risen but M-STEP scores have not