State Count Day qualifies school districts for state funding

(WXYZ) - Attendance at public schools across the state today will be used as data for the Michigan Department of Education Student Count Day.

The attendance numbers are critical to districts as state funding is dependent upon it. Several forms of state aid are based on the number of students legally enrolled on or before count day.

All students must be in attendance and receive instruction in all classes to be eligible for count day. If a student is not in attendance they may be counted for:

- 30 calendar days for an excused absence following count day.
- 10 school days for an unexcused absence following count day.
- 45 days for suspended students following a count day.

Michigan’s statewide dropout rate is approximately 11.08 percent or 15,277 students from the class of 2010. The 2011 cost of dropouts in lost state aid to Michigan schools is $112 million.