Wednesday is "count day" at schools

Students are hot commodities this time of year, and area schools are aggressively working to get them in the classroom on Wednesday, the state's annual "count day."

It's the designated day when the number of students who show up determines how much money the district gets, and it adds up: In the Pikes Peak region, it's $6,700 per student in the larger districts, and nearly double that in small, rural districts.

Although there's a complex set of rules and formulas for funding schools, it boils down to this: Districts will get $6,334 to $12,566 from the state this year for every student enrolled and attending class on Oct. 1, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education. The larger dollar amounts go to rural districts, where small numbers of students mean higher operating costs per student. There's also money for providing some services to home-schooled children and for the growing world of online schools.

The money grab and Colorado's school choice rules, which says a child can attend any public school in the state for free as long as the school has room and the parents provide transportation, set the stage for competition.

"Everybody's competing these days," said Glenn Gustafson, deputy superintendent and chief financial officer for Colorado Springs School District 11. "It's the way of the world and ultimately it leads to higher achievement because parents vote with their feet."

The recruitment effort for most schools and districts is twofold: a short-term effort to tidy up enrollment numbers and woo kids to class on Wednesday, the official count day, and a long-term effort to develop new programs that attract and keep students.

This week, schools are sending home reminders to ensure good attendance on Wednesday, and some are promising treats, drawings, free lunches and fun activities as enticements.

In the long run, though, the educational establishment is working to combat the loss of traditional school students to charter schools, homeschooling and, increasingly, for-profit online and digital schools.

They're also working harder to retain students who are at risk of dropping out and are providing new programs for students who need to catch up on their high school requirements to graduate.

Academy School District 20 launched one such program this fall, a pilot online high school that it expects to evolve into a full high school diploma program over the next couple of years, said Rick Tanski, an online teacher and program administrator.

"This can be another path for kids who don't fit in the traditional 7 to 2:30, bell-to-bell schedule," Tanski said.
Online classes for high schoolers are exploding nationwide, and the district is offering five this year. Of the 75 students enrolled, some are full-time online, some have classes in a regular high school, and some are homeschooled students who want to take only one class, he said.
"The possibilities are almost endless for how it fits with our kids," he said.

District 11 also launched an online program for kindergartners through eighth graders this fall, and expects to expand it to high school next year. The online program had 55 students enrolled last week, district officials said. At a briefing to the D-11 board this month, administrators said that the initial effort is geared toward pulling in homeschooled students, but that they believe the market is broad.

The state has strict rules on who a district can count as its own online student, including a rule that no more than 10 students can be from outside the district.

However, Tanski said, a law adopted last year allows a district to become certified to offer its program to students throughout the state - and the district would get money for them. That's what D-20 hopes to do over the next two years, he said.

D-11 Superintendent Terry Bishop recently told the D-11 board that the district must offer alternative programs or risk losing more students to the competition.

D-11 recently opened the Galileo School of Math and Science and attracted 101 students from outside the school's boundaries - a handful of them from outside the district, project manager Mary Ley said. The school, in the former East Middle School building, has 250 sixth graders this year and will add seventh and eighth graders in subsequent years.

The district also has specialized arts programs, the academically rigorous International Baccalaureate program, a high school engineering magnet and other specialized programs.

Still, Gustafson said, the district is behind on one idea that's catching on fast: dual high school and college enrollment in partnership with area colleges.

Colorado Springs Early Colleges, a state-chartered school, began offering that last year and this year has more than 400 students, he said. Other charter schools in the region are forging partnerships with colleges to help students get college credits or even earn an associates degree while still in high school.

D-11 jumped on the bandwagon this fall with a limited partnership with Pikes Peak Community College for seniors in the class of 2008 who were short of credits to graduate last year.

"I think you'll continue to see more choices," Gustafson said. "That's how we compete."