CCSD looking into possible miscounting of homeschool students

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Parents of homeschooled Charles City students had questions for the school district concerning funding for the school’s homeschool program during the Charles City Community School Board meeting on Monday, Aug. 12.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, homeschool parents Jeremy Parrott, Trisha Thompson and Kirk Schoeck used their time to ask for clarification about the state of the homeschool program after receiving conflicting information about the number of students and funding available.

While not an agenda item for the board to discuss at the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Brian Burnight met with the parents afterward to explain the situation and what is being done to move forward.

The issue stems from a possible error in how homeschooled students were counted for the 2023-24 school year that undercounted what it should have been.

“There is an allegation of an error of seven to 10 students,” said Superintendent Dr. Brian Burnight.

Last year’s certified enrollment counted 39 homeschooled students, which each bring in 0.3 of the regular per pupil funding that the district receives. If an undercount of the number of homeschool students happened, it would mean the district had lost out on several thousand dollars for the program.

Complicating the matter is the fact that the two employees that would best know how the certified enrollment was calculated are no longer with the district. Burnight said that the district is still looking into if or how an error may have happened.

“If an error did occur, we want to make sure we don’t repeat it,” said Burnight.

As an aside, Burnight noted that the homeschool program will have some additional funding coming its way this year as one of the teachers involved with the program has left the district, leaving a part-time position that can be filled by a newer teacher.

“There will be some more money, quite a bit more money, that will be part of that budget,” said Burnight.

The homeschool parents also asked the board to consider drawing greater attention to the district’s homeschool program, such as making a place for it on the district website.

“The homeschool assistance program is a great missed opportunity for our district,” said Schoeck.

The parents suggested that by promoting the program, the district may be able to draw in homeschool kids from neighboring districts and better keep students from open-enrolling out.

“There is a financial benefit to this,” said Thompson.

Moving into new business, the board set this year’s stipends for Professional Learning Community Facilitators and mentors, approved a 28E agreement with IC for shared special education paraeducators, and set registration fees for the 2024-25 year, which remain unchanged from the previous year.

The board also renewed its contract with The Donovan Group I LLC, which provides social media support to the district. While the board has been satisfied with the contractor’s work, it is asking that a representative meet with the board twice a year to provide a direct report.

“Just so we get an idea of what they are doing,” said board member Josh Mack.

After the regular business, the board went into back-to-back closed sessions to discuss confidential records and litigation strategy.