The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will permit St. Louis Public Schools and other districts to count enrollment and attendance under a phased approach that begins with a 90/10 split and moves gradually to a 50/50 split, the committee heard Oct. 9.

Doctor Borishade told the committee DESE plans to phase the change through a series of weightings — 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40 and then 50/50 — which will affect how attendance and enrollment are counted for funding purposes. Borishade also said DESE will allow districts to count attendance for students who are suspended, provided districts use a special attendance coding to track the days.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the schedule and about how suspended students’ attendance would be recorded. Staff confirmed the percentages are the phasing plan going forward and that districts will need to code suspended students separately so days are counted for funding.

Ending: Staff said the committee should consider the change when preparing legislative priorities and funding requests because the shift could affect district funding calculations; members asked staff to share detailed DESE guidance with the committee.