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October count

School attendance is important today

How schools are paid for is complicated and too often contentious. Today, however, is the occasion for a yearly event that at least seems simple – the October count.

The attendance taken today will result in a number that will, with some adjustments, determine the funding for each of Colorado’s schools. It is a one-time snapshot of student enrollment meant to allow the state to equitably distribute school funds. And with that, it is important that all students be in school – and in the schools they will stay in for the school year.

In essence, the state takes the total number of students in each school today, multiplies it by the base per-pupil number it has previously arrived at and the product becomes the amount of revenue (state and local money) that school can take in. The count is held in October, rather than earlier, to allow for all concerned to settle in and thereby arrive at a more accurate tally.

This year, Durango School District 9-R has budgeted on the expectation that its per pupil revenue will come in at just shy of $6,900. The state adjusts for a variety of factors, but the October count is key to determining each school’s funding.

In the end, though it is neither as simple nor as draconian as it may sound. For one thing, that is only the base number. The state also adds funding for such things as special education, teaching English-language learners and at-risk students.

It also recognizes that things happen. The state looks at some numbers from before and after today, so that if a student is legitimately enrolled in a District 9-R school, but is simply sick today, that $6,900 is not lost.

A more serious situation can develop if a student is in one school Oct. 1 and then transfers to a different one later. It is no problem if both schools are in the same district, but a student moving into the district from out of state brings no money along. The same is true of a student coming to 9-R from a private school after the October count.

A student moving between District 9-R and one of Durango’s charter schools creates a similar situation. The school where the student sat Oct. 1 gets the money.

The October count is a curious and perhaps archaic way of allocating school funds. But it is what we have and should be respected.



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