MARQUETTE — Local results have come in from the recent count day, which was Oct. 3 for all school districts in Michigan.

Count day is when all public schools tally the number of students attending their schools. Count information is important to districts since each student translates into state funding.

Local educational agencies’ and intermediate school districts’ state aid, according to the state of Michigan website, is based on the number of students legally enrolled on or before count day.

Local superintendents were contacted by The Mining Journal via email to give their numbers.

The fall FTE, or Full Time Equivalent count, for Marquette Area Public Schools was 3,266.76, said MAPS Superintendent Bill Saunders. In the fall of 2017, it had an FTE of 3,242.60.

“A nice little increase for MAPS,” Saunders said.

He said the district budgeted for a FTE of 3,219.

The foundation allowance per student for the MAPS and most districts in the Upper Peninsula is $7,871.

“Our count was very positive,” said Negaunee Public Schools Superintendent Dan Skewis, who noted the head count for that district was 1,589 students.

The FTE count NPS will submit to the state is 1,583.04 students, the difference being that some students are not full time, he said. The number represents the district’s highest enrollment since the 1997-98 school year and is 60 more students than it had last year.

“In June, when we set our budget for this school year, we based it on 1,546 students, so having 37 more students than what we budgeted for is a nice surprise,” Skewis said. “We have had to add extra staff to accommodate our new students, so that expense will offset some of the extra revenue brought in.”

Ishpeming Public Schools Superintendent Carrie Meyer said the count for that district is 733 for grades pre-K through 12, but doesn’t include students at the alternative school.

“This number is less than we budgeted,” Meyer said. “We are in the process of amending our budget, and can provide a more accurate update when that is complete.”

She noted many variables changed, so it’s important staff completes the amendment to see where everything falls. Last year, the district’s count was 771, and staff had budgeted for 755 this year.

“We are experiencing declining enrollment and have already made some adjustments,” Meyer said. “After we modify our budget, we will have a better prediction of where we are.”

Gwinn Area Community Schools reported a tally of 1,064.03 students, down from last year’s count, which was 1062.54. It was anticipated the district would be able to claim 1,068.

“With a reduction of four students this impacts our budget by about $30,000,” GACS Business Manager Amy Finkbeiner said. “I’ll also add that with the law that allows districts to capture funding on students after count day that move into your district (Section 25), there is a possibility of reducing that negative impact,” Finkbeiner said.

NICE Community Schools’ count day total was 1,208 students, said Superintendent Bryan DeAugustine.

“Over the last few years, we’ve been hovering between 1,205 and 1,210,” he said.

He acknowledged the district has been fortunate.

“We lost 30 students who flat out left the area due to the indefinite idling of the Empire Mine,” DeAugustine said. “We’ve made up the difference through Schools of Choice students. though, because over the past few years we’ve increased our incoming students by 54.

“This allowed us to grow to our current level a few years ago. We’ve been hovering around 250 Schools of Choice kids, which is really helpful. Having a stable student count helps us keep our funds balanced. We get the most out of the money we have and always have a little bit in reserve.”

NICE Community Schools, he said, has a 7.99 percent balance in its General Fund Reserve in relation to its unrestricted state aid. That fund balance hovers between $800,000 to $900,000 from year to year.

“We also have a Sinking Fund reserve every year that hovers around $820,000 that we can use for building repairs and campus maintenance projects,” DeAugustine said. “This gives us some breathing room so that we can invest in our kids and our personnel.”

The district, he said, maintains a one adult-to-eight-child ratio that helps it maintain what he called a “robust academic programming” in core classes and elective offerings.

“This is one reason why we have three full-time art teachers, three full-time and one part-time music teachers, two full-time industrial technology teachers and two full-time business teachers, for instance,” DeAugustine said.

Calculations that schools receive are based on a blend of fall and spring student counts. The blend is based on the previous school year’s spring count and the current fall count.

Fall counts occur on the first Wednesday in October and represent 90 percent of state funding, while spring counts take place on the second Wednesday in February and represent 10 percent of state funding.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.