Murray board checking enrollment; DPP resigns
By KRISTIN TAYLOR
Staff Writer
The Murray Independent Board of Education and district personnel have been conducting a comprehensive review of all students enrolled in the city district after the Calloway County Board of Education said some county residents attending Murray schools may not be properly documented.
Murray officials began the review Friday - the morning after Calloway board members said perhaps as many as 100 students who reside in its district are attending Murray Independent Schools but aren't accounted for in the non-resident average daily attendance contracts. Preliminary results of the review indicate the number of students residing in the county but attending city schools is significantly larger than was reported for the 2004-05 non-resident ADA contract, according to a prepared statement released by the Murray board after its special-called meeting Tuesday night that included four executive sessions.
Murray Board of Education Chair Richard Crouch said Friday morning was the first time any city board members knew of a discrepancy among the reported numbers and the actual non-resident enrollment.
"I thought kids moved in and out of the district but I had no idea that the numbers could be off anywhere like this," Crouch said in an interview this morning. "When I found out Friday afternoon these were big numbers, I felt blind-sided, blown away. I just was astounded."
The administrations and boards at Murray Independent Schools and Calloway County Schools have been at odds recently over the 2005-06 non-resident average daily attendance contracts. Officials from both districts have made proposals only to have them rejected or not considered by the other district.
Calloway officials have said they want to achieve a balance between the number of students transferring from one local district to the other. Right now, more than 400 students are leaving Calloway to go to Murray, while only about 200 are going from Murray to the county, according to officials from both districts.
But Calloway learned of the discrepancy among non-resident figures after county district officials began reviewing a list of audience members from the special-called meeting Oct. 23 that nearly 150 people attended. After examining addresses of many parents who said their children were enrolled in Murray, Calloway officials realized they resided in the county but were not on the non-resident list. That means neither school is receiving the ADA money for those children.
Calloway County Schools Superintendent Steve Hoskins said the neglected reporting of non-resident numbers contributes to the unbalanced numbers the county district hopes to address with a new contract with Murray schools.
"Their board reacted to it last night," Hoskins said this morning. "I think their board realized for the first time there is a large discrepancy. They have a duty to report it to the state and the state will investigate."
Hoskins said nearly one-third of Murray's student body is county residents attending school outside their home district. The city has been reporting about 430 non-resident students, but Hoskins said that number is likely closer to 600.
While Hoskins hopes to settle the contract dispute with Murray, he said he wants the investigation to be complete and that may mean asking the state for a waiver for the Feb. 1 deadline.
"My board is not going to enter into a contract unless they have accurate numbers they can trust," Hoskins said.
Murray Superintendent Dale Reid was not available for comment this morning.
Officials have said the ADA money amounts to about $3,222 per student, but that figure is only about half of what it takes to educate a child. Schools receive this money based on the average daily attendance. The non-resident ADA contracts allow districts to receive this money from the state for the students who are attending schools outside their home districts.
"We, as board members, apologize to the Calloway board members as well as to the community," Crouch said. "We were astounded and had no idea those numbers were wrong. We're talking very significantly wrong. We'd like the community to support us through this.
"We'll do what we have to do to maintain excellent instruction. We had started to build trust between the boards and it looks like we will have to continue working on that."
In the course of the review, Murray's Director of Pupil Personnel Pat Seiber resigned. She offered her resignation during a Sunday meeting that included Crouch, fellow board member Jerry Duncan and district administrators. Her resignation was officially accepted during Tuesday night's board meeting.
"When it became apparent the numbers were where they were, without anybody saying anything, she offered to resign," Crouch said. "Her resignation was accepted."
The Kentucky Department of Education has a Feb. 1 deadline for schools to agree on the non-resident contracts for the 2005-06 academic year. If Murray and Calloway don't reach an agreement by then, the state board of education could become involved.
Crouch said having inaccurate non-resident lists is a setback for trying to reach an agreeable non-resident contract proposal. The current investigation will change the city's bargaining position, he said, even though he's not sure how.
"We haven't gotten far enough along to determine that," he said. "We still need to determine how many Calloway residents are enrolled in our district. We have several things we need to focus on before we can sit down and decided where to go from here.
"This changes the dynamics."
Based on the preliminary findings, the Murray board authorized board attorney Chip Adams to conduct an investigation of all matters surrounding the preparation of the 2004-05 non-resident ADA contract, which was sent to Calloway County on Oct. 26 as well as the district employees involved, according to the statement.
Crouch said Adams called the Kentucky Department of Education Monday morning and will travel to Frankfort later this week to meet with state education officials. Adams is seeking KDE assistance in resolving this matter.
"There were students not on that list that were supposed to be on that list," Crouch said. "We need to find out from the Kentucky Department of Education where we stand with them before we do anything else."
The question the community and school officials are asking is how did such a discrepancy occur.
Crouch, who has served 16 of the last 20 years on the city school board, outlined the technical process by which the non-resident lists are generated.
The attendance clerks at the schools handle forms parents fill out upon enrolling their children. The computer information includes a datafield in which the clerk enters whether the student is a resident of the district or what district the student actually resides. That datafield generates the lists, Crouch said.
"There's no apparent pattern to who is on that list and who's not on that list," Crouch said in responding to rumors that the unreported non-resident students are children of city school administrators and employees. "There seems to be no rhyme or reason to who is on that list. It's baffling."
Crouch said he was quick to question existing policies and procedures that should have prevented such a discrepancy from occurring. He said the Murray district is among many in the state that subscribe to the Kentucky School Boards Association policy service that updates school-related policies annually for local school boards to consider implementing. Crouch said the Murray board often uses those or adapts them to meet local concerns.
Two years ago, Murray Independent Schools underwent an attendance audit like all state school districts, and everything was fine.
"There needs to be new policies and procedures in place so something like this won't escape the attention of the board," Crouch said.
Hoskins agreed with Crouch that state policies need to be addressed. "They should have never gotten to that point," Hoskins said of Murray's unreported non-resident enrollment. "They passed state attendance audits, so something isn't right."
A preliminary internal assessment of Murray school finances shows the district can work through an enrollment drop that could come with a change in the non-resident ADA contracts. But Crouch said the board will likely bring in a consultant, probably a retired superintendent who studies finances, to get an outside opinion to particularly look at bond payments the district is making for its Murray Middle School addition and recent Murray Elementary School renovations. A consultant could help the district the financial impact of various enrollment situations.
For the complete story, see Wednesday's Ledger & Times.
Story created Dec 15, 2004 - 16:58:11 EST.
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