ANDERSON, Ind. — Anderson Community Schools did not lose 600 students in the current academic year, officials say, despite a report from the Indiana Department of Education saying they did.
ACS’s 2009 Annual Performance Report published this week says 8,805 students were enrolled in the local public schools, compared with 9,421 in the prior school year. The reported figure represents 616 fewer students.
“We’re not down 600 kids,” said Joseph Cronk, director of ACS’s center for information and technology education. “The numbers at the state, they’re not right.”
Cronk said this year’s actual head count is 9,125, which is in line with past enrollment declines and projections. That would represent a loss of 296 students compared with last school year.
The erroneous figure of 8,805 students appears to have been reported by ACS to the Department of Education, Cronk said.
“We switched student information systems this year,” he said. “We don’t think that system calculated the report properly.
“It looks like (the erroneous figure) came off a pupil enrollment report, and that number was wrong and was reported improperly.”
Cronk said a corrected number will be provided to Superintendent Felix Chow to report to the state. Cronk said the discrepancy will have no bearing on school funding, which is based on a count called average daily membership.
That count of students is taken annually on a specific day in September. For state funding purposes, the ADM counts half-day kindergartners as half a student, so the figure is lower than total enrollment.
ACS Business Manager Kevin Brown said the report of 600 fewer students had come as a surprise, and administrators had been tracing the problem since it was discovered earlier this week.
Indiana Department of Education spokeswoman Lauren Auld said the enrollment figure is part of the information that the state compiles in Annual Performance Reports so that parents and patrons can see how their local school and school systems are doing on a wide range of benchmarks.
More information on school performance will be reported later in the year, Auld said.
Numbers game
Getting a handle on enrollment in Anderson Community Schools is not as easy as 1, 2, 3. Here is a look at three figures that each reflect a reported tally of students, and how the figures were derived.
--9,125
ACS’s 2009-2010 head count of all students enrolled.
--8,780
Average daily membership, the enrollment figure used to calculate school funding. Each school district counted this year on Sept. 19. Kindergartners who attend half-days count as one half.
--8,805
ACS enrollment as reported by the Indiana Department of Education, which school officials say appears to be based on a faulty ACS pupil-enrollment report.
Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com
Breaking News
Report of 600 fewer ACS students wrong, officials say
ACS enrollment down, but in line with forecasts
- Breaking News
-
-
LA school in sex abuse scandal reopens
Children returned Thursday to an elementary school where the entire staff was replaced after the arrests of two former teachers on charges of committing lewd acts with students in class.
-
Official: States get No Child Left Behind waiver
President Barack Obama on Thursday will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.
-
Sources: Pentagon rules shift on women in combat
Pentagon rules are catching up a bit with reality after a decade when women in the U.S. military have served, fought and died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
-
Markets buoyed by news of Greek debt deal
Stock markets extended gains and the euro struck a two-month high against the dollar Thursday after the Greek Prime Minister's office said a deal has been struck with coalition parties on new cuts that are necessary for the country to get crucial bailout funds.
-
Indiana GOP governor hopeful lacks enough signatures
Republican candidate for governor Jim Wallace is fighting to make it on the ballot after election officials said Wednesday he came up short in his effort.
-
Anderson bank robbery case turned over to FBI
An investigation into the robbery of an Anderson bank Tuesday was officially turned over to the FBI on Wednesday.
-
German man wins Empire State Building race again
A German runner has won an annual race up 86 flights of stairs at the Empire State Building for a record seventh straight time.
-
Santorum files for Indiana ballot despite dispute
Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum filed Wednesday to get on Indiana's primary ballot even though he has not been certified by local election officials.
-
Sarkozy advises against military strike on Iran
French President Nicolas Sarkozy put his reputation as a stalwart friend of Israel on the line Wednesday, warning that military action was no way to deal with nuclear-minded Iran at a dinner hosted by France's main Jewish group.
-
GOP vows to reverse Obama birth control policy
Republicans vowed Wednesday to reverse President Barack Obama's new policy on birth control, lambasting the rule that religious schools and hospitals must provide contraceptive coverage for their employees as an "unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country."
- More Breaking News Headlines
-
LA school in sex abuse scandal reopens
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Video of Ga. Man Who Killed Girl Released
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
