Poway Unified is calling on parents to help increase state funding during these difficult times. "Here is an opportunity to be pro-active. It is the first bright light in a very dismal financial picture for California public schools. Our parents and students can help during this budget crisis," said Don Phillips, Poway Unified School District Superintendent.

"Increasing attendance is a win-win for all. Our students are in school and learning, and for every day they are present, our district receives more funding from the state," said Phillips.

For Poway Unified, a district of more than 32,000 students, if every child attended school just one more day during the year, funding would increase by almost $1 million dollars. Don Phillips cautions that when children are sick they certainly should not be in school. However, there are times when students are out of school for other reasons. The school district is asking parents to assist by scheduling vacations for school holidays and consider late afternoon medical appointments. In addition, principals and district officials are reminding parents that the rules of attendance calculations have changed from years ago. There are no longer any "excused absences" as far as funding from the state is concerned. The only way a student can be considered not absent is to be physically at school on a given day.

Although Poway Unified has excellent attendance rates (averaging 96% at school sites), there is still room for improvement. During the month of January, 2003, the District lost $40,000 in attendance funding at just one high school, and a total of $620,000 from all school sites. Poway Unified's Palomar Council PTA supports the idea and will be communicating the funding plan in school site newsletters. Information will also be on PUSD's web site at www.powayusd.com. Poway Unified's main source of revenue (66%) is the state revenue limit. This is a very complicated formula that is primarily based on student enrollment known as the Average Daily Attendance (ADA) of those enrolled students. Enrollment is defined as the total number of students enrolled in district schools; ADA is the average number of students in attendance on any given school day throughout the year. California law regarding reporting ADA changed in the 1998-1999 school year. In the past, ADA totals included any days that students were absent for excused reasons, such as illness or doctor's appointment. The new law requires districts to report only the total number of days students were actually in school. The only exception would be a pre-arranged Off Campus Independent Study (OCIS) Contract for more than five days.

Don Phillips said as employees, parents, and community members are becoming aware of the budget crisis, everyone is looking for ways to help. While areas of the budget are frozen, and the Superintendent's Kitchen Cabinet is reviewing the $228 million budget, employees are cutting energy use, curtailing travel, and looking for other ways the district can save money. Increasing attendance was a reason for changing next year's school calendar, with the district hoping that having a week off at Thanksgiving and another week in February would help parents plan family vacations during school holidays. Don Phillips has also asked employees to give him any ideas that might help. He is particularly pleased that the idea to tell parents about the difference that increased attendance can make came from one of the information services staff. Patty Taylor, a PUSD Senior Information Systems Support Analyst, analyzes attendance figures from 31 schools. As she reviewed the figures from January, and read the latest budget message from the Superintendent, she thought the parents just needed to know what happens when children are not in school. They are missing out on learning, and the school is losing a source of revenue that can translate into the loss of staff and programs.