More than a month after frantic rumors erupted that the Los Angeles Unified School District was going to halt the issuance of student permits out of the district, the ground-shaking policy change was confirmed late yesterday.
The District said the policy change already was in effect, although there are numerous exemptions, both permanent and temporary.
There is no mystery about LAUSD’s motivation: By reclaiming perhaps as many as 10,000 students, the District calculates it will gain $51 million annually in state funding, seemingly significant, but still less than 10 percent of its budget gap. California funds schools at an average rate of $5,000 annually per student, which goes by the acronym, ADA, Average Daily Attendance, a reason the daily attendance count is critical for schools.
Close to 20 percent of students in the Culver City Unified School District are on permits. While the impact of the LAUSD announcement was not immediately evident, early indications were the effect would not be heavy.
Culver City School Board Vice President Scott Zeidman has been monitoring the permit change that have been dribbling across the metropolitan area since mid-February.
He provided the following data to put the sudden reversal of permit policy into context:
• LAUSD is confronted by a $640 million budget gap.
• LAUSD has about 620,000 students.
• An estimated 12,249 students are on permits to leave LAUSD while the District has accepted 1,932 students from other districts.
• An estimated 80 percent of permit students likely would be affected.
• If so, that will gross about $51 million in state funding.
• Culver City has about 1,000 LAUSD permit students
• Santa Monica also has about 1,000 LAUSD permit students.
• Torrance, for another example, has about 2,000 LAUSD permit students.
When exemptions are considered, the already muddy waters can become further clouded.
Two notable exceptions to the LAUSD policy change: If at least one parent or legal guardian “is physically employed” within the boundaries of a district, a student may remain; and permit students in the fifth, eighth and 12th grades will be granted what is called “a senior exemption.”
Says Mr. Zeidman: “LAUSD has been losing between $40 and $50 million in gross revenue for the last three or four years, if not longer, through permit students.”
Addressing the $5,000 funding per student average, Mr. Zeidman said that “it doesn’t cost to educate exactly what you (the schools) get paid per child. For Special Education children, it costs more. For non-Special Ed children, depending on the teacher and what they are doing, it may cost less, and it usually does. If you look at it generally and assume a teacher’s compensation is equal to $90,000 a year, including benefits and everything else; if you put 30 kids in a class, it costs about $3,000 per child for the teacher.
“For a ballpark estimate, let’s say there is a thousand dollars in other expenses, which pro-rates the Superintendent, administrators, custodians, books, — so that means it costs $4,000 to educate a child. The state gives you $5,000. With that other thousand, you can spend it on programs and other matters.
“When you are looking at a budget cut — in this case, I have been told LAUSD has to cut $640 million. They can recoup, gross, about $50 million by cutting these permits. Most of their expenses still are there, administrators, property and all that. What they will be doing is hiring more teachers. They can partially balance their budget, to a small extent, by bringing these kids back.
“It has nothing to do with education,” Mr. Zeidman said. “It is all about money.”
Here is the confirmation report LAUSD issued yesterday:
LAUSD REVISES INTER-DISTRICT TRANSFER POLICY
DECISION COULD BRING APPROXIMATELY $51 MILLION IN NEW REVENUE
In order to respond to the devastating budget crisis faced by the Los Angeles Unified School District, the District has revised its policy on the issuance of Inter-District Permits. The Permit program has traditionally allowed parents and guardians the ability to have their children attend schools outside of the District’s boundaries.
Under the current policy, LAUSD loses approximately $51 million each year that could go to help maintain class size and save teacher jobs.
“Just about every school district in the Los Angeles area is experiencing massive budget deficits but ours is the largest at $640 million,” said Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. “It is time to bring our students home to LAUSD where we still have plenty of excellent schools for them to attend and we have great teachers to instruct them.
“LAUSD has made great strides in improving the educational options for students who reside within the boundaries of our school district,” he continued. “We have a number of educational options for students who reside within the boundaries of our school district including: award-winning magnet programs and a number of California Distinguished Schools, small schools and small learning communities, as well as high-performing campuses with personalized learning experiences.
“Additionally, we have invested $14 billion in constructing 87 brand new schools and have completed nearly 20,000 modernization projects designed to promote positive educational learning environments and excellence in academic achievement,” Cortines added.
“In light of these improvements, I have asked staff to implement a permit policy that limits the types of permits issued to students and families requesting attendance in other school districts. However, every request for a transfer will be individually reviewed and evaluated in its own merit.”
The LAUSD will limit out-going, inter-district permits to Parent Employment and Senior Status. Parent Employment Permits are allowed for students whose parent/guardian is physically employed within the boundaries of another school district.
Senior Status Permits will be issued to allow students to complete the final year at their school of attendance at their current elementary, middle or high school (e.g., 5th, 8th and 12th grade). Parents/guardians may still submit applications for permits to attend unique educational programs or exceptions for permits that fall outside of the two conditions described above. Those applications will be reviewed individually and evaluated on their own merit.
If a permit request is denied, parents/guardians will be informed of appeal procedures by the District. Parents/guardians have the right to appeal permit application decisions through the LAUSD Office of Permits and Student Transfers, and the Los Angeles County Office of Education (www.lacoe.edu).
A letter will be sent to parents and guardians affected by the new policy change informing them of the many educational opportunities afforded to them. These include attending the school of residence, obtaining permission to attend another school within the District’s boundaries, using the Open Enrollment process and applying for magnet schools in the future.
In the past, the LAUSD has offered different types of permits based on child care, continuing enrollment and others. This has allowed many students to leave the District.
Last year, the LAUSD released 12,249 students to other school districts. For further information regarding Inter-District Transfers, contact the Office of Permits and Student Transfers at (213) 745-1960.See lausd.net
