Mike Wolanin | The Republic An exterior view of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation administration building in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022.
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s 2023-24 fall enrollment is lower than the same time last year by about 55 students.
BCSC’s latest average daily membership (ADM) count is 11,375.9, compared to 11,431 last year, said Assistant Superintendent of Financial Services Chad Phillips.
“ADM is now complete,” he told the school board on Monday. “I think there may be one or two conflicts out there among school districts floating around, but we do have an official number for you that should not change.”
Students at St. Peter’s Lutheran School and St. Bartholomew Catholic School who attend classes at Central and Northside Middle School count as partial ADM, which is why the figure contains a decimal point, he explained.
The state of Indiana uses ADM to allot tuition funding support to schools based on a per-pupil amount. Phillips’ 2024 budget assumptions include per-pupil amounts of $6,590 in 2023-24 and $6,681 in 2024-25.
The 2023-24 ADM includes 302 students who attend Columbus Virtual Pathway. The school corporation will only receive 85% tuition support for these individuals, Phillips said at a previous meeting.
He told the board that ADM counts do not include Pre-K, as there is no state funding associated with those students.
Over the past 21 years, the school corporation has seen an average growth of 0.6% per year in fall ADM counts and seen a net gain of 1,318 during that time, Phillips said. However, he noted that part of this increase — about 440 — comes from the state’s decision to move from counting each kindergarten student as a half a student to a full student, which went into effect in 2015-16.
The school corporation’s ADM previously decreased by 148 in 2009-10, 27 in 2014-15 and 47 in 2019-20.
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
