THE Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) reported a 3.6 percent drop in student attendance during the first semester, a number that could cost it more than $100 million in state funding.
On Jan. 13, LAUSD reported an average daily attendance of 513,765.9, down from last year’s 532,932.8.
Each 3 percent decline in attendance costs the district about $100 million from the state, which is its primary source of revenue.
Since the LAUSD began using My Integrated Student Information System, or MiSiS, a computerized record-keeping system, there have been glitches that have affected attendance figures. As a result, teachers have had to revert to paper attendance records.
Problems with MiSiS also include issues with the program code and a lack of user training, resulting in backlogs of attendance records.
“Our team continues to address the tremendous backlog of attendance data that must be entered into MiSiS in order to claim critical revenue for the district,” Superintendent Ramos Cortines wrote in an update Friday, Jan. 23, to school board members.
The district has yet to determine how much of the 3.6 percent decline is due to MiSiS, but it will need to provide figures by April 21 – the state deadline – so California can calculate how much funding LAUSD will receive. The number to be reported is expected to fall between 3 percent and 16 percent, LAUSD Chief Financial Officer Megan Riley told the district board.
“That would be beyond tragic; it would be catastrophic for the district’s funding,” said Scott Folsom, a member of the California State PTA, according to CBS.
The district has the option of applying for a waiver for more lenient attendance reporting guidelines, but it has not yet indicated if it would do so.
Fixing MiSiS could cost the LAUSD more than $100 million, more than four times the $25 million spent on the system.
(With reports from CBS and Los Angeles Daily News)
(www.asianjournal.news)
(LA Midweek January 28-30, 2015 Sec. A pg.5)
