CCSD has third straight year of record enrollment

Wright Elementary School principal Carol Erbach did something unusual in the days leading up to Friday.

She and her assistant principals sat down with students and told them to come to school.

A public service campaign, “Stay in School,” is built around the message, but Erbach was talking about one day in particular: Friday — the most important day of all 180 in a school year to make it to class.

All across Nevada, public schools worked extra hard Friday to ensure students were in their seats, particularly in Clark County School District’s 357 schools, which have the most to lose from an absence.

Clark County Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky relayed the same message to parents.

“For any parent who has not already enrolled their child in school, we encourage them to do so by Friday,” he said on Thursday.

A lot rides on Friday, known by educators as “Count Day.”

For Clark County Schools, that means $5,544 per student from the state in basic education funding for the 2014-15 school year.

The state looks only at Friday’s head count when it writes the check for the year. And students had to be present to be counted, not just enrolled.

The district counted 318,597 students, marking the third consecutive year of record enrollment, which translates as $1.77 billion in basic state funding. That’s $49 million more than the previous year, when the district counted 314,643 students and the state paid $87 less per head.

Because no other day’s attendance counts, the state’s longstanding reliance on a single day’s head count has come under criticism. Funding is not predicated on students completing the school year, staying the rest of September or even coming back Monday. Payments to schools stay the same, providing no incentive to keep students coming back for more.

In Clark County, about 10 percent of students who start high school drop out before graduation.

Only nine other states — Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and South Dakota — still use a single count day, according to research done by the Education Commission of the States in 2013.

Average daily enrollment is used by 14 states that pays districts for only those students enrolled all or most the school year, motivating schools to keep Erbach’s message going all year long.

The remaining states use varying systems, but all factor in more than a single-day head count. Nine count on multiple days, then fund the average.

“The topic (of multiple count days) comes up every year,” said Joyce Haldeman, the school district’s legislative lobbyist.

The idea never gains traction, she said.

Multiple count days last year would have paid off for the district, which ended the school year with 2,500 more students than it had on count day. Had they been counted at the start of the year, the district would have received $13.6 million more from the state.

But the district has never pushed for multiple count days, Haldeman said.

“That’s because last year’s increase was an anomaly,” said Clark County School Board member Carolyn Edwards.

The district usually loses students through the year, ending with fewer students than tallied on Count Day, Edwards said.

“Count Day usually reflects our highest enrollment or close to it,” Haldeman said.

The same goes for Nevada’s other districts, she said.

But 2014-15 may be a repeat anomaly.

“I would not be surprised if we continue to grow during the school year,” Edwards said.

Erbach, for example, has added as many as 100 students at her school, near Durango Drive and Blue Diamond Road, after count day.

“It would benefit us to do another one,” said Erbach, recalling the stress of preparing for Count Day and the work of having students sign off by their name.

“Do I want to do another one? No,” Erbach said with a chuckle.

“Students love it,” added assistant principal Jana Smart. “They count along with us.”

Contact Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @TrevonMilliard.