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Local education officials walked back on a letter and phone call sent to parents last weekend regarding attendance — apologizing for any anxiety they may have caused.

But, though Del Norte Unified School District’s second notice to families refuted claims that this year’s state funding allocation is tied to attendance, enrollment for the 2020-21 school year is down by 226 students. DNUSD could lose roughly $1 million if enrollment doesn’t return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022-23 when the state’s funding allocation returns to the average daily attendance model, Assistant Superintendent Jeff Napier told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Thursday.

“My projections are showing we’re going to be lower next year because we’re so low right now,” he said. “The 2022-23 school year could be a really bad cliff because if we don’t get our enrollment up in ’21-22, then our funding is going to be based on — even for ’22-23 — that lower ’21-22 enrollment.”

According to the district’s initial post on Feb. 26, 36 percent, or one out of three students, are identified by the state currently as being chronically absent. Though DNUSD stated it hadn’t sent attendance letters to families this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and wouldn’t include attendance before Oct. 19, 2020, it is relaunching its Attention to Attendance program.

Under this program, letters will be sent to parents of students that miss both a distance learning and an in-person day.

“It is not our goal, nor is it the goal of the District Attorney, to prosecute families, but we want to notify, reach out and support,” the post stated. “We must, however, also document attendance as required by law.”

According to Napier, the district has lost students in every grade level this year. Quite a few people have moved out of Del Norte County, he said, while some are receiving homeschooling.

In many cases, officials aren’t sure where the student has gone, Napier said. Teachers have tried to contact them, but phone numbers have been disconnected and house visits have been unsuccessful, he said.

Even truancy officer, David Hernandez, of the Del Norte County Probation Department, has been trying to track down families whose children are enrolled but not attending classes, Napier said.

“One of the things we’re trying to figure out is if they’re enrolled and not attending, what are the barriers? Why aren’t they attending?” Napier said. “Is it a transportation issue? If they’re not doing distance learning, is it because they don’t have broadband access?”

DNUSD has worked to ensure students can access their lessons either through special transportation, Napier said, or offering broadband at school sites.

“Even our distance learning families can come and park in the parking lot and get broadband so their kids can log in,” he said.

In its second post, on Feb. 27, DNUSD stated that while school funding is allocated based on part on daily attendance, this year the average daily attendance (ADA) model has been suspended, Napier said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, DNUSD’s funding allocation for the 2020-21 school year is based on the previous year, Napier said. When the ADA model resumes next year, the district can continue to receive funding allocations based on 2019-20 enrollment data, he said. It may not be so lucky in 2022-23, according to Napier.

According to Education Data Partnership, DNUSD’s enrollment in 2019-20 was 3,981.

Officials projected an enrollment of 3,703 students in the 2020-21 school year, Napier said. Actual enrollment in October turned out to be 3,564, a drop of about 139 students. Enrollment dropped by another 87 students as of February, according to Napier.

“We’ve lost almost another 100 kids,” he said. “If you’re talking 100 kids, that’s over $1 million.”

That’s more than $1 million of unrestricted dollars that would require the district to make cuts, Napier said. However, at a Board of Trustees meeting last week, he said his staff isn't planning for cuts yet because they're "not firm on those numbers at all."

Napier is expected to bring his initial enrollment projections for the 2021-22 school year to the Board of Trustees on March 11.

"If those numbers don't come in, we're going to have that one year to try to figure out exactly what our enrollment's going to be for staffing for next year," he told trustees.

 

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