AuTrain-Onota Public Schools vs Southport Public Schools
MI · 20 students • ME · 19 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- AuTrain-Onota Public Schools spends 9% more per student than Southport Public Schools after adjusting for local price levels.
- Southport Public Schools directs 11 more cents of every operating dollar to instruction than AuTrain-Onota Public Schools.
- Southport Public Schools reports fewer students per teacher (4.8 vs 10.0). This is a staffing ratio, not an average class size.
Are these even comparable?
Establish the shape of each district before reading a single dollar figure.
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 20 | 19 |
| Schools | 1 | 1 |
| Grades served | PK–8 | K–12 |
| Setting | Rural | Town |
| County | Alger County | Lincoln County |
| State | MI | ME |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 96.2 | 97.1 |
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.
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $47,895 | $44,250 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $49,778 | $45,595 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $44,800 | $43,071 |
| 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 |
AuTrain-Onota Public Schools
Southport Public Schools
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.
AuTrain-Onota Public Schools
- Local 82.5% Locked
- State 13.3% Locked
- Federal 4.1% Locked
Southport Public Schools
- Local 88.7% Locked
- State 8.9% Locked
- Federal 2.4% Locked
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 82.5% | 88.7% |
| State share of revenue | 13.3% | 8.9% |
| Federal share of revenue | 4.1% | 2.4% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How MI funds its districts
Proposal A foundation allowance: a per-pupil grant largely funded by the state, with limited local enhancement.
How ME funds its districts
We have not yet written up ME's funding formula, so nothing is claimed here.
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.
AuTrain-Onota Public Schools
- Instruction 48.0% Locked
- Instructional staff support 1.1% Locked
- Student support 0.2% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 11.6% Locked
- Transportation 10.0% Locked
- Food service 5.8% Locked
- School administration 4.3% Locked
- District administration 11.8% Locked
- Other support 7.1% Locked
- Other current 5.8% Locked
Southport Public Schools
- Instruction 58.3% Locked
- Instructional staff support 1.6% Locked
- Student support 4.5% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 9.2% Locked
- Transportation 5.5% Locked
- Food service 5.3% Locked
- School administration 9.2% Locked
- District administration 5.4% Locked
- Other support 0.0% Locked
- Other current 5.3% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, AuTrain-Onota Public Schools minus Southport Public Schools. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 49.1% | 59.9% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 16.0% | 14.6% |
| Transportation share | 10.0% | 5.5% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | 10.0 | 4.8 |
| 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.
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | 11.8% | 8.0% |
| English learners | — | — |
| Students with disabilities | — | — |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -37.5% | -45.7% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
AuTrain-Onota Public Schools
- Declining enrollment Enrollment fell more than 5% over five years. Enrollment decline is the single best predictor of school closures and programme cuts.
- Low share reaching classrooms Under 55% of current spending reaches instruction and instructional support, low against national practice.
Southport Public Schools
- Declining enrollment Enrollment fell more than 5% over five years. Enrollment decline is the single best predictor of school closures and programme cuts.
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -37.5% | -45.7% |
| Long-term debt per student | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service share of spending | Locked | Locked |
Enrolling a child
Is a seat at your zoned school guaranteed?
AuTrain-Onota Public 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.
Southport Public 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.
- 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.
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 MI and ME.
- At least one district sits outside a metro area with its own published price index, so its cost adjustment uses the statewide index. That is a coarser adjustment.
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.
AuTrain-Onota Public 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.
Southport Public Schools
The county or town levies it, not the district
This school system reports no property tax of its own. It is a dependent system: the county or city levies the tax and appropriates money to the schools. You still pay school property tax — the school board simply is not the body that sets it, and the appropriation is argued out at the county or city council.
| AuTrain-Onota Public Schools | Southport Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | $49,789 | — |
| 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. | — | $51,400 |
| Property tax as a share of all revenue How much of the budget rides on local property values, and therefore on local votes. | 76.8% | — |
| 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. | $0 | $0 |
- AuTrain-Onota Public Schools: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- Southport Public Schools: 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.
Who sits on the board
AuTrain-Onota Public Schools board of education
- Lisa Hanson — Vice PRESIDENT
- Katrina Walther — SECRETARY
- Peter Veverka — TREASURER
- Jessie Torres — TRUSTEE
- When the board meets: “The AuTrain-Onota Public Schools Board of Education regular monthly board meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month.”
Read from the district’s own board page on 2026-08-24. Boards change; the district’s page is the current record, not ours.
These seats are elected, and what this board decides — the budget, the attendance boundaries, the calendar — is decided at a meeting the public may attend. The district’s own board page, linked above, is where it publishes the schedule and the agenda. We do not hold meeting dates or contact details for these people.
Funding measures on the ballot
AuTrain-Onota Public Schools
| Election | Measure | Amount | Yes | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-04 | Operating levy collected 2026–2034 · $15.27 per $1,000 of assessed value OPERATING MILLAGE RENEWAL PROPOSAL |
— | — | No outcome published |
One measure has no outcome in the state’s file. No vote count was published for it either, so an empty Yes column means unpublished, not narrow.
From the state’s own election file. Latest election on record: 2026-08-04.
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.
Southport Public Schools
We have not read ME’s election results, so this column is empty because of us and not because of Southport Public Schools. Whether it has asked its voters for money is a question its county election office can answer and we cannot, yet.
Nobody has read ME’s school election results yet — that is a gap on our side, not a fact about this district. Its county elections office holds what it asked its voters for and what they answered, and that is a public record you can request. What it says is worth asking about at a board meeting.
- A vote share is not an outcome. What it takes to carry varies by state and by measure — in some states a bond needs a supermajority and a minimum turnout while a levy on the same ballot needs half, so a clear majority can still lose. Every outcome shown here is copied from the state’s own election file, and the rule that applied is stated with the coverage above. Where that file stated no outcome we show whatever count it published and no verdict, rather than working one out from the percentage — and some states publish the ballot question without ever recording a count, so a blank there is a number nobody printed.
- These are the measures a district put to its voters, not its whole tax bill. A property tax bill also carries county, city and state levies that have nothing to do with schools, and in most states a school board can issue some kinds of debt with no vote at all.
The detailed figures for AuTrain-Onota Public Schools and Southport Public Schools
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
$1.79 for both, for three months, 21 cents less than buying them one at a time.
The 3-month unlock is a single payment and does not renew; it simply ends. A subscription renews, monthly or yearly as chosen, until you cancel. No account to create: this purchase is held in this browser, so clearing site data or moving to another browser loses it, and the phone apps sell their own unlock through their own store. What to do if you lose it.
Compare something else
AuTrain-Onota Public Schools on its own · Southport Public Schools on its own