As local students transfer to Charter School, their state and
federal funding goes with them
The Morgan Hill School District is expecting to lose about 50 students and approximately $250,000 by the time the school bell rings in the fall, according to district officials.
Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini said the district is projecting enrollment next year of 8,615 students.
“We know we will be losing 50 students to the Charter School next year, but we don’t know which schools they’ll be coming from,” she said. “Their ADA (average daily attendance) money goes with them directly to Charter. So we think we’ll see a loss of about $250,000.”
This year’s enrollment was 8,675.
While losing the $250,000 won’t send the district into bankruptcy, school officials could easily spend every penny made available to them. In fact, trustees are considering what programs or staffing position to add back into next school year’s budget. This is the first time in three years the district won’t have to cut its $56 million budget. During the last three years, the district slashed over $8 million in spending.
ADA funding, determined by the number of students in the district and their attendance, keeps district classrooms functioning and provides money for items such as supplies and textbooks, jump-ropes and basketballs at individual schools in the district.
Teacher salaries also come from the district’s general fund budget, which is fed by ADA funds.
“One of the things our school sites, our whole district, has focused on is increasing ADA funding by reducing our absences,” Tognazzini said. “A letter went out, districtwide, last year, letting parents know the importance of getting their children to school, not only for financial reasons, but more importantly, for their education.”
Attendance has increased with the vigilance of the sites in regards to record-keeping, and efforts have been made to encourage parents to schedule appointments for their students outside school hours.
MHSD received $6,800 on average per student this year, resulting in general fund resources of almost $55 million; next year, district officials are projecting $6,841 per student, or general fund resources of almost $56 million.
ADA funds from the state, which go into the district’s general fund budget, are based on the prior year’s attendance figures during the second half of the school year known as P2.
Because ADA is based on school attendance during the spring and subtracts funding for absences, the system always provides money based on the prior year’s enrollment For example, the district’s actual enrollment this year was 8,675 students but it received funding based on 8,601 students, last year’s enrollment average. Next year the school will receive ADA funds for 8,200 students.
However, Tognazzini noted, when a student leaves a district school to attend the Charter School of Morgan Hill, as 50 students may do this fall, their ADA funding goes with them that year. It means the loss of the students will create an immediate impact on the school’s finances.
While 50 less students might seem at first glance to warrant less staff, and therefore a cut in teachers, Tognazzini said that is not the case.
“While we still don’t know which schools they will be coming from, it seems likely, with this number of students, that we can balance out our class-loads so no cuts will be necessary,” she said.
Instead, the district is actually hiring teachers for next year, as Sobrato High School, going into its second year, will be adding a grade level. Next year, the school will host every grade except for seniors. The Charter School of Morgan Hill serves students in grades K-8.
To predict future enrollment, district officials “roll kids forward” into the next grade, Tognazzini said, and also use historical data to adjust the numbers.
”It isn’t always predictable,” she said. “We assume those kids we roll forward will stay in the district. This year, with the split between Live Oak and Sobrato (at the high school level), we are looking at all of the addresses in making our predictions.”
In past years, parents have complained about the “student shuffle” that takes place after the first few weeks of school, as the district makes adjustments to classrooms and schools.
“We know it is hard when this happens right before school and right after school starts,” she said. “It is unsettling for students and uncomfortable for the parents and the district. “We want to have as little of that as possible.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@mo*************.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 ext. 202.
