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District outlines enrollment, attendance and weighted-funding challenges as budget work begins
Summary
District leaders reported Jan. 6 attendance numbers, described state weighted funding formulas and said they will press the legislature for weight adjustments; staff warned PERS increases will offset some state increases.
District leadership briefed the board on student attendance during the Jan. 6 makeup day, enrollment trends and how state weighted funding affects local budgets.
Andy (district leadership) said student attendance on Jan. 6 was about 86 percent and that certified and classified staff participation rates were much higher than large urban districts that used holiday dates for makeup days. He told the board five special-education programs and four preschool programs were closed on Jan. 6; the district's special-education population is roughly 1,275 students.
The presentation reviewed how Oregon's funding formula (average daily membership weighted, ADMw) adjusts funding for student needs: special education receives extra weighting, English learners and students in poverty receive higher weights, and some rural districts receive higher overall weights. Andy showed Greater Albany's unweighted enrollment of 8,890 and a weighted ADMw of about 10,573, which produced general-fund revenue near $114.5 million in the cited year. By comparison, David Douglas and Reynolds districts had higher weighted ADMw totals and correspondingly larger per-district allocations.
Board and district members said the district will seek to move the state cap on special-education double-weighted students closer to the statewide average (from an older cap to 14 or 15 percent) and will press for stable funding to address PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) increases. One board member said the Governor's budget offered increases but that required PERS contributions could absorb much of the gain.
The district also noted shifting kindergarten capture and long-term enrollment trends (the district said it captures about 81 percent of local newborns as kindergarten entrants, down from about 91 percent pre-COVID), and emphasized that enrollment assumptions will be a key input to the upcoming budget work.
No formal budget decisions were made; staff said they will return with more detailed spreadsheets as the budget calendar and development process continue.
