Be There or Be Square: October 2 Is Fall Count Day

The student count days for the 2024-25 school year are October 2, 2024 and February 12, 2025. The October 2 count day is approaching quickly and 90% of a school’s per-student state aid is based on that day’s membership count.

MDE has not yet issued the 2024-25 Pupil Accounting Manual (PAM), but the most recent PAM requires school officials to ensure that:

• each student is enrolled on or before the count day,
• student schedules on count day and attendance records match,
• attendance records identify the teacher, class, hour, and dates of instruction,
• attendance records, including computer-generated records, are signed by the teacher of record,
• computer-generated records are verified, signed, and dated weekly by the teacher of record,
• attendance records, whether electronic or handwritten, are easily readable,
• the school maintains one official attendance record,
• attendance marks and excused/unexcused absences comply with school policy, and
• each instructor is a certified teacher or holds a substitute teaching permit or other MDE-issued authorization.

A school must demonstrate that it has satisfied all legal requirements to be eligible for state aid reimbursement for a counted student. Failure to follow pupil accounting rules and requirements may prompt MDE to reduce a school’s student count, thereby reducing state aid.

Each year, several schools are faced with a potential state aid reduction for failing to comply with the PAM. Those situations often involve simple and avoidable errors, such as students not being instructed by a certificated teacher (or by an individual with a substitute permit or other MDE authorization) or a teacher of record neglecting to sign attendance records. Other common mistakes include:

• counting students who do not meet Revised School Code Section 1147 age requirements (e.g., at least age 5 by September 1 of the school year of enrollment),
• allowing shared-time students to take classes that are not available to all students, not taught by a certified teacher, or are “core classes” as interpretated by MDE, and
• failing to properly document student attendance.