PERRYSBURG — It may seem cut and dried, but putting an exact figure on the number of students enrolled in Perrysburg Schools is complicated.
Superintendent Tom Hosler attempted to provide an explanation of enrollment figures during last week’s working group meeting of the school board, because it will have an impact on potential building projects.
The number of students in the district determines both the physical size of buildings and the funding the district receives from the state.
“Those are the numbers of students that are actually in our seats this morning. We actually go in and count those students. You can actually go in and count those bodies,” Hosler said.
He said that there is a lot of confusion, both to the general public and within the district. Totals are different, based on the use.
“We’ve done this weird thing where we’ve always counted noses,” Hosler said.
He was referring to Perrysburg Schools’ physical headcount, which they have always done. Meanwhile, the state has changed its counting methods, over time, because the type of count used will fund a different type of classroom teaching. It interprets enrollment as percentages of time.
On Feb. 7, there were 5,692 students, using that Perrysburg Schools internal headcount.
At the same time, there were also 5,370.42 students at Perrysburg Schools, according to the Total Average Daily Membership as determined by the Ohio Department of Education Fiscal Year 2021 District Profile, commonly referred to as the Cupp Report.
The Ohio Department of Education Report Card for the 2020-21 school year, the most recently completed one, stated that there were 5,163 students.
Yet another had the lowest enrollment number, reported Jan. 9, that was 4,949 students enrolled, based on the Total Average Daily Membership Detailed School Funding Payment Report for the January payment.
An ADM is the “(full time equivalency) number of public school students residing within a school district’s boundaries or non-resident students who are eligible to attend the district,” which district documents defined in the presentation given by Hosler.
All of those numbers are accurate, but they have different meanings.
In real terms, the district must make sure there are enough desks and chairs, said Rachel Zickar, Perrysburg’s public information officer. There must also be the administrative staff to track and report on the students filling them, even if it is only for a partial day.
Those percentages of time in the district are also not always obvious. It’s the 0.42 of a student that needs to be explained.
“It’s a full human in the seat,” Hosler said, but it’s reported as a fraction.
Many students are added to the enrollment during the course of a year. It may be obvious that a student who starts half way through the school year, at a Perrysburg school, should be counted as a 50% student, but that can be complicated in a number of ways.
The example Hosler used is the state counting method for College Credit Plus students. The same student could be considered 86% of a student, when taking one course, or 58% of a student when taking two. Yet, that student may never physically leave the building during the school day, because some of the CCP classes are taught by teachers at and paid by Perrysburg Schools.
Other students may qualify for an Individual Education Plan, but attend a private school. The district still spends time and money to track that student. That is a situation somewhat similar to the CCP students. At a bare minimum, the school has to know if the student is present or truant.
Full-time Penta Career Center students may also be a 0% student, but take some classes at Perrysburg schools. Once again, the district has to know where the student is physically at.
Ultimately, Hosler made it clear that the district needs to count every student for which they owe responsibility and the physical headcount will continue.
