Rutherford County Schools warn state coding changes and early graduations could cut millions from next budget
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Summary
District staff told the school board that state TESA/TISA coding changes, shifts in economically disadvantaged counts and early graduations have reduced weighted funding and could translate into multimillion-dollar revenue losses; board discussed COLA targets while staff continues data cleanup.
Rutherford County School Board members were told Feb. 3 that state data coding changes and shifts in student counts could materially reduce the district’s funding as administrators build a preliminary budget.
Unidentified district staff said the district is targeting a 2–2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for employees but cautioned revenue is uncertain until the General Assembly finalizes the governor’s proposal and corrections to the district’s enrollment data are complete. "We are very, very early in our budget process," the staff member said, adding that the increase to TISA in the governor's budget will be a "big portion" of the extra revenue the district can expect.
Staff described two related pressures: (1) a decline reported in overall enrollment that the district is still reconciling with state systems, and (2) a coding change that reduced counts of students marked as economically disadvantaged. The staff member described a reduction in the district’s economically disadvantaged count from about 8,000 to 6,334 after the coding change and said that change can cascade into lower weighted funding. "If we were getting $10,000,000, that's a 2 and a half million dollar cut just because of a coding change," the staff member said.
Administrators said data fixes have restored some students flagged incorrectly: the district verified roughly 144–200 students between December and January, and staff noted the district was funded at 51,589 students last year and is currently reporting about 51,200 while cleanup continues. Board members asked whether funding is calculated daily or annually; staff clarified that state funding is calculated on average daily membership (ADM), effectively "by the day, by the student."
The board discussed how early graduates affect staffing and funding. Staff said some juniors graduated early in December and that while seniors who graduate early are funded for the full year, juniors who graduate early reduce future-year counts and therefore can affect staffing needs. The district staff warned the board to expect continued analysis as enrollment cleanup and the General Assembly’s action on the TISA increase become clearer.
The work session did not include a formal vote on budget items; staff said principals must submit budgets by Friday and the board will continue setting priorities in coming meetings.