GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In public school districts across the state of Michigan, the most important day for school funding will take place virtually and bring its own challenges. Count Day will take place on Wednesday.
Grand Rapids Public Schools is pushing students to attend if they are able. In order to be counted, students must log on to their virtual learning program and complete at least one assigned activity, according to GRPS.
All students will need to log on, including hybrid students who are on their off-day with their rotating schedule.
“This is going to be a count day unlike any count day because this. This time, 100% of our students will be virtual on count day," said John Helmholdt, Spokesperson for GRPS. "It's going to be an all-hands-on-deck approach. Our teachers and school leaders, they know what to do. They're going to be actively calling parents, trying to get a hold of the students, emailing parents and emailing students. We're going to do everything we can to ensure that we're counting each and every child who we are serving."
Count Day is especially important with most schools seeing an overall decline in enrollment. GRPS is teaching roughly 850 students fewer than previous academic years.
In order to account for the difference, the state has changed how schools are allocated funding. This year, 75% of funding stems from last year's student population, with 25% coming from this year's count.
