Fairfield Community Schools vs Swan Valley School District
IN · 2,209 students • MI · 1,802 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- Swan Valley School District spends 5% more per student than Fairfield Community Schools after adjusting for local price levels.
- Swan Valley School District directs 3 more cents of every operating dollar to instruction than Fairfield Community Schools.
- Fairfield Community Schools is far more dependent on local property taxes (38% of revenue vs 24%), which ties its budget more tightly to local property values.
Are these even comparable?
Establish the shape of each district before reading a single dollar figure.
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 2,209 | 1,802 |
| Schools | 4 | 5 |
| Grades served | K–12 | PK–12 |
| Setting | Suburb | Suburb |
| County | Elkhart County | Saginaw County |
| State | IN | MI |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 90.3 | 90.9 |
The headline dollar
Current operating spending per student, shown three ways. The first is what each district reports. The second and third are the honest ones for comparison.
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $11,880 | $12,551 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $13,153 | $13,809 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $12,515 | $13,329 |
| Capital spending per student Buildings and land, never folded into the operating figures above. It is lumpy: a district mid-build looks expensive for two years. | Locked | Locked |
Fairfield Community Schools
Swan Valley School District
Where the money comes from
The funding mix determines how exposed a district is to local property values, to state politics, and to federal programmes ending.
Fairfield Community Schools
- Local 38.5% Locked
- State 55.6% Locked
- Federal 5.9% Locked
Swan Valley School District
- Local 23.6% Locked
- State 71.7% Locked
- Federal 4.7% Locked
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 38.5% | 23.6% |
| State share of revenue | 55.6% | 71.7% |
| Federal share of revenue | 5.9% | 4.7% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How IN funds its districts
Tuition support: a per-pupil foundation grant with complexity funding, almost entirely state-funded.
How MI funds its districts
Proposal A foundation allowance: a per-pupil grant largely funded by the state, with limited local enhancement.
Where the money goes
The same slices in the same order for both districts, plus the differences by function — because two pie charts side by side hide exactly the thing you want to see.
Fairfield Community Schools
- Instruction 55.9% Locked
- Instructional staff support 5.7% Locked
- Student support 3.0% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 11.2% Locked
- Transportation 4.9% Locked
- Food service 4.7% Locked
- School administration 6.5% Locked
- District administration 3.7% Locked
- Other support 1.7% Locked
- Other current 4.7% Locked
Swan Valley School District
- Instruction 61.7% Locked
- Instructional staff support 2.6% Locked
- Student support 4.6% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 10.3% Locked
- Transportation 3.5% Locked
- Food service 4.5% Locked
- School administration 5.6% Locked
- District administration 1.8% Locked
- Other support 5.4% Locked
- Other current 4.5% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, Fairfield Community Schools minus Swan Valley School District. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 61.6% | 64.3% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 10.2% | 7.4% |
| Transportation share | 4.9% | 3.5% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher This is a staffing ratio: total enrollment divided by teaching staff. It is NOT average class size. Actual classes are larger than this number in every district. | 17.1 | 18.4 |
| Students per counselor | Locked | Locked |
| Students per administrator | Locked | Locked |
| Total salaries All staff, not teachers alone. | Locked | Locked |
Who they serve
The answer to "but they serve different kids" — which is usually a fair objection.
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Child poverty rate Children aged 5 to 17 in poverty within the district boundary. Used instead of free-lunch eligibility, which community eligibility has made unusable for comparison. | 9.2% | 8.3% |
| English learners | 0 | 0 |
| Students with disabilities | 0 | 0 |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -0.2% | -1.3% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
Fairfield Community Schools
- High debt burden More than 10% of total spending goes to interest and debt retirement, money that cannot reach a classroom.
Swan Valley School District
No stability flags raised.
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -0.2% | -1.3% |
| Long-term debt per student | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service share of spending | Locked | Locked |
Enrolling a child
The same checklist for both districts. Every "required" below links to the sentence it came from.
Fairfield Community Schools
Online Registration | Fairfield Community Schools
Almost nothing could be read off this page — usually a portal that builds its content in the browser. Treat the column below as "we could not tell", and open the district's page yourself.
Read September 1, 2026.
Swan Valley School District
We have not been able to find an enrollment page for this district, so every row in its column below says so rather than guessing at it. Ask the district's registration office directly.
Is a seat at your zoned school guaranteed?
Fairfield Community Schools
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
Swan Valley School District
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
- This is the district’s own published wording, not our summary of it. Policies are rewritten between enrollment seasons and a page can be out of date the day after we read it — the school office is the only authority on whether a particular grade at a particular school is full right now.
- A warning here is about capacity, not about your address. It does not mean your child will be moved; it means the district has told you in writing that it may move them.
- Required the page says so, and the sentence is quoted.
- Mentioned only it comes up, but not as a requirement — often a sentence saying the district cannot demand it.
- Not mentioned we read the page and it was not on it. That is not the same as "not required".
- Page not read we have no enrollment page for this district.
Documents to bring
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of residency | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Proof of age (usually a birth certificate) | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Immunisation records | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Physical examination | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Dental, vision or hearing screening | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Tuberculosis test | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Records from the previous school | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| IEP or 504 plan | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Custody or guardianship paperwork | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Parent or guardian photo ID | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Home language survey | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Emergency contact information | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Proof of income | Not mentioned | Page not read |
| Social security number Asked for by some districts. It is not required to enrol, and a school may not refuse a child who does not provide one. We list it because districts ask, not because you must answer. | Not mentioned | Page not read |
How enrolling works
Locked 11 steps of the enrollment process — deadlines, appointments, proof of residency — are not shown. What to bring is above, and stays free.
- A blank row means the requirement did not appear on the district’s page. It does not mean the district will not ask for it — published lists are routinely incomplete, and the registrar has the final word.
- Requirements change every enrollment season. Check the district’s own page, linked above, before you gather anything.
- A district cannot condition enrollment on your child’s immigration status: under Plyler v. Doe (1982) every child resident in the district is entitled to a free public education. If a district asks for something that would reveal status, you are not obliged to provide it.
- If your family is in temporary or shared housing, the McKinney-Vento Act lets a child enrol immediately without the residency and records documents listed here. Ask for the district’s homeless liaison by name.
Comparability notes
- Cross-state comparison. Dollars below are shown both as reported and adjusted to a common price level, because a dollar buys different amounts of teacher in IN and MI.
What these numbers are, exactly
Who decides, and what it costs you
Every band above this one asks what a district spends. This one asks who chose to.
Fairfield Community Schools
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
Swan Valley School District
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
| Fairfield Community Schools | Swan Valley School District | |
|---|---|---|
| School property tax levied, per student Only for districts that levy in their own name. Blank where the county or town levies instead — see the cards above, and read the next row. | $4,676 | $2,237 |
| Appropriated by the county or town, per student What the parent government handed the schools, for dependent systems. This is a general appropriation, not solely property tax. | — | — |
| Property tax as a share of all revenue How much of the budget rides on local property values, and therefore on local votes. | 29.4% | 13.9% |
| Long-term debt already owed, per student The balance at the end of the year, for scale. Repaid over decades, so it is a commitment made by earlier boards rather than a bill arriving now. | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service as a share of spending Interest plus principal repaid this year, against total spending. This is the part of the debt that is being paid now, out of money that would otherwise reach a classroom. | Locked | Locked |
| New long-term debt issued, per student Money borrowed during fiscal year 2024. What this figure does and does not tell you is set out under the table. | $2,782 | $0 |
- Swan Valley School District: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- A figure in the borrowing row is not a bond voters approved. It records debt issued, and that includes refinancing existing debt at a new rate — which changes nothing about what a district owes — as well as certificates of participation and lease-revenue debt, which in many states a board can issue with no referendum at all. To find out what was actually on a ballot, check the county election office.
- Debt is repaid over decades. A large balance per student is a commitment made by earlier boards and earlier voters, not a bill arriving this year. The debt service row above it is the part being paid now.
Funding measures on the ballot
Fairfield Community Schools
We hold every school funding measure the state of IN published since 2009, and this district appears in none of them.
What this state publishes: School referenda certified by the Department of Local Government Finance, November 2009 to date, from the department's four historic listings. The index states its own empty election periods, so a year with no measure is a year no Indiana school district asked. Indiana publishes the certified outcome and never the vote: no row here carries a yes-share, because the DLGF reviews ballot language and certifies levies and never sees a canvass. The ballot question and the dollar figure come from the determination filed with each referendum, and every determination before 2020 is a scan with no text layer, so most rows before then carry a district, a date, a type and an outcome and no amount.
Swan Valley School District
This district appears in none of what we read from MI’s source in its current ballot window (2026).
What this state publishes: Michigan's Voter Information Center publishes sample ballots, not results. Every question here is the text voters were given; the Secretary of State's ballot preview records no vote counts and no outcome, so nothing on this page says whether a Michigan measure passed. The preview also carries only the elections in its current window — recent and upcoming — so a Michigan district's older bonds and millages are not here. And one precinct is read per township or city: where a township is split between school districts, a question that appeared only in another precinct of that township is not here either. A Michigan district with no rows has not necessarily left its taxpayers alone.
What this band does not answer yet
The detailed figures for Fairfield Community Schools and Swan Valley School District
The verdict, the headline dollar, the funding shares, who is served and every comparability caveat are free above, and stay free. What is behind the lock is the detail you would want before acting on any of it:
- capital spending per student
- total revenue and total current spending, and the funding mix in dollars (the percentage shares stay free)
- the ten-line per-student breakdown of where the money goes
- counselor and administrator ratios, and the total salary bill
- the debt behind the risk flags — per student, and as a share of spending
- the enrollment process — deadlines, appointments and proof of residency
$1.79 for both, for three months, 21 cents less than buying them one at a time.
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Compare something else
Fairfield Community Schools on its own · Swan Valley School District on its own