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Issue 43
School Attendance Affects School Income
Hardly a day goes by when you don’t hear about the effects of
the budget shortfall in Sacramento and the negative effects that it is
having on our schools and other government services. These are very
difficult times for both public and private sectors, and all of us need to
be looking for ways to stop needless waste and loss of resources. We’re
writing this letter to ALL of our school families to give you the same
message---and hopefully develop some successful strategies for addressing
a MAJOR source of revenue loss, student absences whether for sickness or
vacation, that happens every day.
We need your help to reduce this problem---and we need it NOW!
What some of you may not realize is that schools and the state now record
absences differently since "we went to school", or the days when a simple
absence note still allowed the school to be reimbursed by the State for
your child's absence. Today it's very different. If a student does not
come to school, whether sick, a doctor's appointment, a family trip,
etc…the school loses forty dollars for that day for that child. $40.
In a recent school day there were 125 absences---that translates into a
$5,000 income loss to the district for that DAY! If that happens on only
ten days during the entire 180 day school year----it would mean the loss
of $50,000, or the equivalent of the cost of a fully credentialed
experienced teacher with full health benefits!
Here are things you can do to help:
1. Bring your child to school even on days that they have doctor
appointments! Schools get paid in full even for partial day attendance.
Schedule doctors and dental appointments AFTER school if possible. If a
morning appointment is scheduled be certain to bring your child BACK to
school after the appointment, so that your child’s daily attendance can be
counted.
2. Schedule vacations and family trips DURING designated school holidays.
3. Use the Independent Study contract for trips longer than FIVE days
duration AND be certain to return them completed. Schools do NOT receive
attendance dollars for contracts that have not been completed. (Please
note that schools need a minimum of five working days of advance notice to
prepare an independent study contract).
4. Here's the other important part of the situation for all of us---When
SHOULD you keep your child home? Please keep your child home if he or she
is indeed ill. Students who have a fever, are throwing up, or have a
contagious disease like chicken pox, etc… KEEP THEM HOME! If they attend
school when they are ill they will only get sicker, or pass their colds
and viruses to other children and who will end up missing school, too.
Here are some figures that we want you to be fully aware of to understand
the enormity of this problem. We have lost over one half million dollars
so far this year due to student absences! That is almost 25% of the BUDGET
CUTS the district must make. This loss of revenue could rise to $1 Million
by the end of the year if we don’t act now. We need your help to see that
your child attends school regularly and that their attendance is counted.
We need you to act now and we’re counting on you for help and support in
solving this problem. Thank you for taking the time to help understand the
needs of our district and how student attendance affects the district and
your child.
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