Alachua County Public School officials are reminding parents that student attendance is particularly critical next week, October 12th through the 15th. Local schools are closed Friday, October 16, for the University of Florida Homecoming.
This is the first time during the school year that all public school students in Florida are counted and the numbers sent up to Tallahassee. Because school districts are funded based on the number of students actually in school during FTE week (FTE stands for ‘full-time equivalent, the official designation for the funding a district receives for a full-time student), absences mean lost dollars. Even if a student is in attendance during the rest of the school year, a district receives no funding for that student if he or she is absent during the October FTE week or during the next FTE week in February. A student must be in attendance at least one day during FTE week to be included in the count.
“Parents understand that their child’s absence can affect their academic success, but they may not realize that it can also have a significant financial impact on schools, especially during the current budget crisis,” said Superintendent Dan Boyd.
Alachua County Public Schools lost funding for about 80 students during the 2008-09 school year, which represents about $350,000.
District officials say any lost funding due to absent students will be particularly harmful this year. The state has already cut its share of funding to local schools by more than $700 per student since the beginning of the last school year, and more cuts are possible during the rest of this school year. Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith has warned districts that the state’s financial outlook is bleak for at least the next three years and recommends they set aside money to cover any further state cuts.
“We’ll be working very closely with schools to account for all students during FTE week,” said Keith Birkett, Assistant Superintendent for Planning, Budgeting and Systems Accountability. “If we’re educating a student for the entire year, we’ve got to make sure our schools receive the funding they need to do the job.”