While newspapers around the area and across the state are reporting the unofficial results of the Oct. 1 Student Count Day and the estimated dollar amounts school districts will receive based on how many students they have, Oxford Schools denied the Oxford Leader’s request for those numbers.
‘At this time we are not comfortable sharing a number,? wrote Communications Coordinator Angela Thick in an e-mail to this reporter. ‘It has been our experience over the last several years that the ‘unofficial? count is significantly higher than the ‘certified? count.?
Thick noted there are ‘several reasons? why the district is not comfortable sharing the current numbers publicly, ‘some of which are unique to Oxford and the specialized learning opportunities? the district offers.
‘For example, Oxford Virtual Academy has not completed calculating it’s FTEs, we do not have attendance data from St. Joseph School in Lake Orion yet, seat time waiver students do not meet the log in requirements, there are students who are absent on count day and do not return within the required timeframe, and students are still dropping at this time,? explained Thick. ‘We would be happy to share our student count after it has been certified (by the state) on November 13.?
The Leader submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in order to obtain the information.