August 17 marked the first day of school for most students in North Carolina. Public school systems across the state have implemented remote learning, with some planning to rely on it for longer than others. The transition from face to face education to remote learning has some asking about the impact of remote learning to school funding which can be based on attendance.

Patrick Holmes, public information officer for Lenoir County Public Schools, said funding is based on the previous school year’s attendance.

“This year's allocation is based on last year's attendance, which was about 8,700 students, including pre-K, and the same as the previous year. Next fiscal year's state per-pupil allocation will be based on this year's attendance,” Holmes said.

There is a possibility, Holmes said, that the current situation could prompt the legislature to make changes to the legislation governing school funding.

“Because of the special circumstances related to COVID and virtual instruction, the legislature could decide to hold school districts harmless for any enrollment loses,” said Holmes.

Student accounting data provides the core of the data used in the evaluation, planning, allocation of funds, and measurement of compliance with federal and state regulations. The Average Daily Attendance (ADA) is the presence of a student on days when school is in session. The Average Daily Membership (ADM) is the total number of school days within a given term.

“We did fund ADM growth for this year, and I just don’t see in an environment of the pandemic and what we’re dealing with, that that will change,” said Rep. John Bell (R-Wayne).

The General Assembly will return to Raleigh in September to resume their session. No legislation has yet been filed to hold school districts harmless or otherwise address funding.

“I don't know of any legislation at the moment. I'm sure it will be a topic of discussion when we return to Raleigh on Sept 2nd,” said NC Rep. Chris Humphrey (R-Lenoir).

On July 14, Governor Cooper stated that schools will operate under plan B, which allows schools to open under a reduced capacity. Districts also have the option of opening under plan C, which will allow them to continue instruction through only remote learning.

“It would be irresponsible, and frankly mathematically impossible, for me to make any assumptions about holding any department harmless when we don’t know the extent of the harm,” said Sen. Jim Perry (R-Lenoir). “DPI has provided some pretty generous guidance for how to determine ADM over the first month of school. We don’t know if there will actually be a material reduction.”

The first day of learning caused tens of thousands of students to experience technical issues that prevented them from being able to log in to PowerSchool and other applications used for remote learning.

Lenoir County Public Schools posted on their Facebook, “We are aware of a couple of wide-spread problems that may have affected students' ability to log in to PowerSchool and apps we use. If you've experienced a technical issue this morning, you are among tens of thousands statewide.”