The Agency of Education briefed the Ways & Means committee on the FY27 school spending data collection and said the long‑term weighted average daily membership (LTW ADM) process is largely complete and more reliable than in prior years. Ted Gates, senior analyst at the Agency of Education, said the December 1 preliminary survey produced an estimated state average growth rate of 5.8% and that the survey response covered roughly 65–70% of districts representing about 80% of statewide K–12 spending.

The Agency described a revised workflow meant to reduce the iterative revisions that have plagued LTW ADM in past cycles. Under the revised process, district data managers and superintendents sign off earlier, business managers can review running LTW ADM calculations via a newly created calculator tool, and the Agency issues a single certified LTW ADM after business manager and superintendent certification. Gates said the Agency has completed collection of the inputs and is finishing signoffs this week before rolling into the preliminary budget line‑item collection, which is due in mid‑February.

Agency staff emphasized data‑quality improvements tied to the Ed‑Fi data standard used to extract district SIS data; they said Ed‑Fi is more mature this year and that previous ‘multiple‑version’ problems have been reduced. Committee members asked for additional statistical analysis of trends and requested that the Agency produce FY25 and FY26 comparisons and share the underlying data with JFO and business managers. The committee scheduled follow‑up testimony to examine direct certification and the universal income form rollout, and to receive more detailed object/function breakouts of district budgets.

The presentation reiterated that these are preliminary numbers: non‑responding districts were assigned the state average growth rate for the December survey, and final excess‑spending calculations for FY27 will not be known until budgets are publicly voted on and exclusions such as pre‑July bond principal and interest are applied. The next procedural milestone is the preliminary line‑item budget submissions in mid‑February; the Agency said it will return with expanded breakouts and comparative context.