We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
November 1 was Chinook School District Superintendent, Fred Hofman's first day to certify numbers in the school reporting process so that base funding could be calculated for the district. During that certification process, Hofman noticed a discrepancy: Chinook School District students in grades 4-6 weren't meeting the minimum aggregate hours as outlined in Title 20, Chapter 1, Part 3 (20-1-301) of Montana Code Annotated. Contact time for students in grades 7-11 will also require some adjustment.
Schools in Montana are funded using a figure called Average Number Belonging (ANB). ANB is a metric that averages spring and fall enrollments. Using the ANB metric, the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines the appropriate budget units for the ANB calculation and the base funding program for the district.
As part of that calculation process, a school district must verify that it delivers a minimum of 720 hours of pupil instruction for grades FTK-3 and a minimum of 1,080 hours of pupil instruction for grades 4-12. For graduating seniors, 1,050 aggregate hours of pupil instruction may be considered sufficient. The fifty daily minutes that students in grades 4-6 at Meadowlark Elementary School spend at recess and lunch do not count towards pupil instruction time.
An individual performing the mathematical calculation might quickly multiply a school calendar that runs 172 days by seven hours a day and find 1204 hours-more than ample to meet the criteria. However, when 8600 minutes are subtracted, the number comes up approximately 20 hours short.
According to Rule 10.20.102, "if the school district fails to conduct the required minimum number of hours for any school or program, the Superintendent of Public Instruction will reduce the direct state aid payments for the year in which the requirement was not met."
The issue of minimum aggregate hours required would not matter if all pupils demonstrated proficiency, but that is not the reality for any school district, since some students will always struggle to meet grade level benchmarks.
So as to immediately address this situation and to avoid any funding shortfalls, Hofman met with the elementary school teachers after school on Wednesday, November 3, to discuss options and to develop a preliminary action plan.
In a phone interview on Thursday morning, November 4, Hofman stated, "For whatever reason, we're short minutes. Getting out at 3:08 daily, only going for 172 days, and not having any structured recess or zero period time are the primary reasons for the minutes lost. The minutes required for the K-3 group are different, and we are okay there. The minutes for grade 7-12 students are in need of some adjustment but not nearly as much, given that they don't have recess. We can fix their shortfall by implementing Friday afternoon remote homework like we did last year. The bottom line is that I refuse to falsify documents or misrepresent time; that would be fraud. So, we have to make up the minutes. Unfortunately, I'm the 'bad guy' who has to fix this."
Repairing the issue, according to Hofman, will require some coordination, but once it's rectified, the issue won't happen again. "This will not occur in future years when calendars/schedules are presented to the Board for adoption, but that does not change our current predicament," he said.
"We have a pretty solid plan right now with one option being a proposal for a zero period at the beginning of the school day and for structured recess times. These will be for everyone; they will not be optional. That said, we will work with families, especially those who are not in close proximity to the school."
Hofman explained that a structured recess is one that is lesson planned out, much like a physical education class. If a school district makes the claim that it is counting time in this way, an audit will be conducted to verify.
Another proposal involves adding a period to the end of the day to provide extra help to those requiring or desiring it, especially those who have endured multiple quarantines and are behind academically as a result. "This after school study hall will be primarily for those students who are struggling or failing a class. It is not designed for our students who are proficient in their studies. With such an intervention approach, we can help some of these students become more proficient. Some parts of this plan will involve phases while others will require us to make adjustments. For example, we may have to adjust our bus schedules," Hofman explained.
The issue of meeting minimum aggregate hours and the options for doing so was a Board Agenda item on Tuesday night, November 9. "We will continue to explore ways to count minutes, and if we can scale things back as time moves forward, we will do so," Hofman stated.
He went on to say, "This shortfall has very little to do with early outs and taking half day Fridays since we send home work packets for students to complete. Bottom line is, we're going to fix it. It won't be nearly as painful going forward, but right now we have to make up this missing time so that we don't lose funding."
In a letter Hofman sent to parents, he alluded to the situation as one in which Chinook School District families were given lemons, so now they'll just have to make lemonade.
