California has been using attendance-based funding for decades. Because California is one of five states that use this method, controversy has arisen over how much money the state loses due to absences.
“Every time a student is not at school, we lose money. We get a certain amount every year that helps pay for all the things, and if that is missing, then the less that we get, the less we have,” said Child Welfare and Attendance Head Sherry Konersman.
While students may not realize it, their absences are depleting the state funding.
“A full present day at school is about $70-$80 per student,” said Konersman
Many factors contribute to the ongoing and possibly increasing absences in the district.
“I would say that [absences] have been increasing. I would say that there’s a lot more mental health absences and a lot more kids just cutting class, so I’m hoping that changes,”said Konersman.
Changing funding from attendance-based to enrollment-based has been the topic of discussion for many years in California, as it would lead to an extra $6 billion annually.
On the other hand, in a recent report titled Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office stated that “such a move might cause more harm than good in the long run, because linking funding to enrollment means schools have little incentive to lure students to class every day…Without that incentive, attendance would drop, and students would suffer.”
Compared to California, many believe that changing to an enrollment-based funding system would be a game-changer.
“Oftentimes, it’s for reasons that have to do with community factors like asthma, transportation barriers, and other things that are outside of the control of the school district…a shift in the formula would allow for an alignment of funding and district budgets though the money comes from attendance, decisions over how it’s spent are based on the number of students, not on how often they are present.” said, senior director of policy and strategy at the Opportunity Institute Carrie Hahnel in an EdSource article.
Because California does not currently do enrollment-based enrollment, the district is working towards a consistently higher attendance rate at Amador by enforcing the prom attendance rules, sports rules, and graduation requirements.
“Attendance is important, and it is a habit we want students to develop (because) you will take it into your adult life and it won’t be anything but beneficial to you. Now there is a big push throughout the district regarding attendance.” AVHS principal Malcolm Norrington.
