Superintendent reports enrollment trends, attendance task force and new billing revenue
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Summary
At the Dec. 8 committee meeting, the superintendent reported enrollment stabilizing, announced WIDA testing dates, described a joint task force to address teacher absences and unfilled classes, and outlined recent increases in medical-assistance billing projected to yield roughly $107,000 if approved.
Superintendent-level staff reported a range of operational updates at the York City SD committee meeting on Dec. 8, including enrollment trends, a new task force on staff attendance and a pickup in medical-assistance billing revenue that the district plans to reinvest in services.
Dr. Miles said enrollment was beginning to stabilize and cited a district total presented in the record as ‘‘63 71’’ (the transcript contains formatting artifacts); he announced that WIDA testing will run Jan. 12–26 and that the second marking period ends Jan. 13. Miles said charter renewal work for the York Academy Regional Charter School will resume after the holidays and that a pair of network leads were assigned to other board meetings that evening.
Board members raised concerns about a chart showing teacher absences and unfilled assignments at William Penn, asking what instruction students receive when substitutes are unavailable. Dr. Miles said students are often reassigned to similar classes, which may not provide identical instruction; he attributed some unfilled assignments to sub-service capacity and maternity or medical leaves. He announced a joint task force that will include YCEA and ESP representatives to explore solutions and accountability measures.
On special-education billing, Dr. Hufnagel said the district began billing for speech and psychological evaluations and virtual speech services; November billable minutes totaled about 49,537 with speech services billing estimated at $88,100 so far and a projected $107,000 if all state approvals and MA (Medical Assistance) eligibility checks are confirmed. Hufnagel said the district is moving paper PCA logs to electronic systems to eliminate backlog, and that reinvestment plans include larger screens, headphones and microphones to improve virtual service delivery.
Miles also highlighted pathways-to-graduation progress (341 seniors cited as potentially on track) and said the district is considering holding graduation on the small field with a backup indoor venue in case of rain. He said the district will continue budget ‘‘listen and learn’’ sessions into December and January and will present findings to the board before final budget decisions.
Board members asked for additional detail and follow-up on sub-service capacity, the attendance task force membership and timelines, and verification of the billing estimates and planned reinvestment spending.
