Counting students twice a year a possibility
By Chelsea Schneider Kirk cschneider@post-trib.com February 6, 2012 8:53PM
Students board buses at the end of the day outside Washington Township Middle/High school near Valparaiso Monday Feb. 6, 2012. | Andy Lavalley~Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 8, 2012 8:11AM
Legislation requiring school districts to count students twice a year for state funding purposes is moving through the Indiana General Assembly.
The Indiana House and Senate both have passed bills requiring two count dates for schools.
Currently, school districts count the number of students enrolled in September, and that number is a factor in the amount of state funding the district receives.
The legislation sets an additional count date in the second semester, which proponents say will allow state funding to move with the student as opposed to staying with a district that no longer educates the child. Under the legislation, funding would be distributed monthly based on the latest count.
State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, who authored the Senate bill, said the state has moved toward the philosophy of funding following the child.
Charbonneau said the legislation also aims to address funding concerns with students transferring into traditional public schools from charter schools and private schools involved in the state’s voucher program.
“The second thing is the complaint or issue being raised by public schools about the charter schools and choice scholarship schools dumping kids back in the public school system,” Charbonneau said. “In the past, we wouldn’t catch up with that until a year later. By doing the second count date, we’ll pick it up in the same school year.”
Yet, East Porter County Schools Superintendent Rod Gardin said the additional count date could reduce the state funding his district receives in the middle of the year.
Gardin said he wants the state to keep one count date or adopt a funding mechanism where districts won’t lose dollars during the school year. East Porter’s enrollment fluctuates about 10 to 15 students a year. With the district receiving approximately $4,900 a student, losing the funds is the equivalent of a teacher’s salary, Gardin said.
“We’ve already started the school year with contracts out for teachers,” Gardin said “So how do you reduce funding when we have those teachers still to pay?”
Merrillville Community Schools Assistant Superintendent Mark Sperling shares Gardin’s concerns.
“I don’t discount that kids move from school to school in the second semester, but again the problem is for those corporations that lose students,” Sperling said. “They can’t really release the staff because there’s not enough kids left in any one grade level. That’s the problem with it.”
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