Common ADM Problems Art Heikkila Lisa Eddy AASBO Conference 2/1/12

Instructional Hours A.R.S. Section —Instructional Hours listed in statute by grade level A.R.S. Section —Instructional Hours requirements for Arizona Online Instruction Schools ADE External Guideline GE-18—“Instructional Hours”GE-18 ADE External Guideline GE-19—“Passing Time”GE-19 Auditors obtain relevant school year calendars and all types of bell schedules from each site Auditors calculate actual instructional hours provided

Instructional Hours Grade LevelsFY2010 and PriorFY2011 and beyondAOI Requirements FY2011 and beyond Preschool180 Kindergarten356 Grades Grades Grades 7-81,0681,000 Grades Source: A.R.S. § and A.R.S. §

Instructional Hours For school districts and charter schools, instructional hours actually provided is determined by the calendar and the bell schedule used for the fiscal year, adjusting for noninstructional activities, excessive passing time, etc. For AOI, average daily membership is determined by dividing the instructional hours reported in the daily log as required by A.R.S. Section , subsection E by the appropriate instructional hours prescribed by statute.

Instructional Hours GE-18 has been in place since FY2007 and states the following: GE-18 “Instructional hours do not include periods of the day in which an instructional program or course of study is not being offered. If the period of the day is not included in the State Board of Education’s approved minimum course of study, then that period of the day is not instructional time. See Ariz. Admin. Code R and R Instructional time does not include: Lunch and recess pursuant to A.R.S. §§ (A)(2)(a)(i) and - 901(A)(2)(b)(i). ADE has made the determination that homeroom period, study hall periods, early release and late start hours are not instructional time.” When a school is determined to be short of actual instructional hours provided, auditors utilize GE-18 to calculate an adjustment

Instructional Hours GE-19 states the following: GE-19 “Passing time is the time it takes for a student to physically travel from one Board approved course of study to another Board approved course of study. Passing time may be counted at the beginning of the period or at the end of the period.” “A total of seven (7) minutes or less of passing time can be included in calculating the annual instructional hours. Annual instructional hours are specified in A.R.S. §15-901(A)(2)(a)(b) or (c).” “Passing time not allowed: a) Passing time in excess of seven (7) minutes shall not be included in calculating the annual instructional hours required in A.R.S. §15-901(A)(2)(a)(b) or (c). b) Passing time to or from one instructional program to a non-instructional program such as lunch, homeroom, study hall and recess shall not be included in the calculation of annual instructional hours.”

Instructional Hours Auditors calculate percentage of hours NOT met multiplied by the ADM of that grade level to determine the ADM adjustment For example, Grade 7/8, school provided only 900 instructional hours instead of 1,068: Step 1: (1, )/1,068=15.73% NOT Met Step 2: 200 ADM x.1573=31.46 ADM Adjustment

Instructional Hours

Enrollment and Withdrawal Records Three sets of records we review: – Original school records – School Management System (SMS) records – Student Accountability Information System (SAIS)

Enrollment and Withdrawal Records Original school records include student cumulative files, enrollment forms, and withdrawal forms Auditors compare original school records to the SMS records to determine accuracy of internal systems Auditors compare SMS to SAIS to determine if funded data reported to SAIS was accurate

Enrollment and Withdrawal Records Auditors look for inconsistencies – Students absent 10 or more consecutive days but not withdrawn – First/last day of actual attendance matches enrollment/withdrawal dates – Total absences reported to SAIS Samples can be expanded if problems are identified

Student Data Reporting Inaccurate Student Data Reporting – Can be overstated by claiming students who had already withdrawn – Can be understated by not ensuring that some students were in the SAIS system – Can result in either a positive or a negative funding adjustment for the school or district

Example 1—Small Charter School – The School reported 3 students twice in SAIS for FY10, resulting in double funding for these students Auditors found that School staff improperly submitted these students to SAIS as new students rather than as data revisions to existing students

Example 1, cont. This School also failed to properly report 7 students to ADE for the actual amount of time they were enrolled in and attending the School – 3 students were not reported as attending beyond the 40 th day; however, these students were actually attending the School the entire year – 4 students who were enrolled and attending were not reported to SAIS at all for the entire year

Example 1, cont. This School also inaccurately reported some students’ withdrawal dates – ARS (A)(2) directs that a student’s withdrawal date is retroactive to the last day of actual attendance – This School incorrectly reported 3 students’ withdrawal dates as being several days after the last day these students attended the School

Example 1, cont. One student was absent for 10 consecutive days but was not withdrawn 3 students had withdrawal forms with the correct dates that the students withdrew from the School; However, these correct dates were not reported to SAIS. The School instead reported dates that were after the correct dates.

Results of Reporting Errors These enrollment and withdrawal errors resulted in ADM over and understatements for this School The School’s funding was adjusted as a result of the errors

Still Example 1 This School also failed to report some absences accurately – We identified 35 students who had absences recorded in the original School records that did not match what was reported to SAIS – This resulted in an overstatement of the School’s ADM and a small adjustment to their funding

Example 2-Large Elementary School District District staff did not accurately report some student data to ADE – District improperly reported to ADE several students who had withdrawn either during the summer or early in the year – These students were eventually removed from the District’s system but were never removed from SAIS so the District inappropriately received funding for them

Example 2, con’t. This District also failed to report to ADE several students who actually did attend school all year As a result, the District did not receive funding for these students The District received a positive funding adjustment for these students