Count Day, Student Enrollment, and Other Stuff

Count Day

October 1st is the official count day for school districts in Iowa.  Since it was on a Sunday, this year count day was the 2nd.  What is count day?  This is the day when districts determine their "official" school enrollment for the year.  The enrollment number from this day is used for a variety of things like determining classifications for athletics and fine arts for next school year, but the big thing it does is determine our district's funding for next year.  

Under state law, the district is allowed $6,664 for every student that lives in our district and attends a public school.  If you multiply the number of students living in the district and attending a public school on October 1st (or 2nd this year) times this number, that is the amount of money the district will have to operate on for the next school year.  Currently, it looks like we will have 955 students in grades K-12 who attend public schools living in our district.  In addition, we have 54 students who open enroll into our district from other districts for their education.  We also have 29 students who open enroll out of our district to other districts.  We bill the other districts for the students who open enroll in and the districts where our students open enroll out, bill us.  This means we have 980 students in grades K-12 who were attending our district schools on October 2nd.  

Student Enrollment

Currently, we have 955 students in grades K-12 who attend public schools living in our district.  In addition, we have 54 students who open enroll into our district from other districts for their education.  We also have 29 students who open enroll out of our district to other districts.  We bill the other districts for the students who open enroll in and the districts where our students open enroll out, bill us.  This means we have 980 students in grades K-12 who were attending our district schools on October 2nd.  

Our enrollment in our schools is down 5 students from last year.  Our Certified Enrollment (students living in the district) is down 7 students.  When the legislature meets in January they will begin the discussion on how much the district will have per student for the 2018-2019 school year.  When that number is known, we can get a solid idea on what our budget will look like for next school year.  At this time, we forecast several models based on varying levels of funding, but it's always easier when the legislature let's us know the exact number.  We will certify our budget for the 2018-2019 school year on April 15th.  

Other Stuff

The building project is moving along.  The tiling that was done to address the water has taken care of the issue.  Of course, mother nature had to send us some more water just to test it and it has worked as planned to address the issue.  The bidding documents are in the hands of the contractors and we will be receiving the bids on November 9th.  I appreciate everyone's patience in attending football games with all of the work going on.  

The third Monday of every month is the district's regular board meeting.  It takes place at 6:30 in the high school media center.  I would encourage you to attend to see what is happening with the district.  This Monday the following items will be discussed in addition to the Consent agenda and administrative reports.  

1. Public Hearing on the plans for the building project

2. Whether the district should offer early retirement this year

3. Request allowable growth for open enrolled out students and 5th year ELL students. 

4. Approve the district goals

5. Update on enrollment

6. Board Learning Time--The board is reading the book Innovator's Mindset

Finally, the fall sports are quickly winding down.  It won't be long and we will all be in the gym for basketball and wrestling and the snow will be coming right behind it.  We are lucky in New Hampton in that we offer a variety of athletics and activities to meet the needs of all students who choose to participate.  If your child isn't currently participating in something, I would encourage you to talk to him/her about getting involved.  Those who are involved in school activities report feeling more connected to school and generally get more out of attending.  If athletics aren't your child's thing, we have speech activities, drama/musical, FFA, trapshooting, band and vocal music activities.  We also have an informal tech club that meets on Wednesdays after school.  If you have any questions on any of these, please contact the principal's office at the high school.