Published: February 26, 2008 08:34 am      

Homeschooling: Education not confined to school walls

A financial impact on school districts

When parents decide to homeschool their children, it means decreased enrollment and less funding for local school districts.

Part of the state funding school districts receive is based on its average daily attendance, which is multiplied by a fixed amount per student.

However, the financial effect homeschoolers have on districts really is minimal, said Lisa Gross of the Kentucky Department of Education, who said there were 11,055 homeschool students in the state during the 2006-07 school year.

“Homeschooled students represent only about 2 percent of the total public school population, statewide,” she said. “The bulk of school funding comes from the state level, and that funding is based on average daily attendance. Because that figure is an average over a period of time, the small percentage of homeschooled students would not have a dramatic effect.

“And, many homeschooled students are regularly homeschooled, meaning that their parents begin homeschooling when the students are in the early grades, rather than being pulled out of public school sometime during a particular school year,” Gross said.

There are 365 homeschool students who would regularly attend a school in the Madison County School District, said Assistant Superintendent Paul Baker.

Based on the average daily attendance rate, the district would receive $4,435 per student if they attended school.

“We’re not receiving $1,618,831,” Baker said. “That’s what homeschool costs us.”

“However, I don’t know that we would receive all that money as a plus because with 365 more kids, we’d have to have another 10 or 12 teachers hired,” he said. “You have to figure that, plus you have to have more materials and things like that. Of that $1.6 million, we would gain probably $800,000.”

In fairness to homeschools, Baker said, just like anything else, there are some that do a great job, and others that do not do as good a job.

“We do have some homeschool kids who do come in and take some courses,” he said. “We have some taking industrial technology courses and some taking a music course. We encourage them to come because if that’s a way we can get them back into the school, maybe they will re-enroll and stay with us.”

Berea Community Schools averages about 30 to 40 students kindergarten through 12th grade who are homeschooled, said Donna Lovell, director of district-wide services.

With the increased enrollment homeschool students could bring, the district likely would receive more than $125,000 in additional state funds, she said.