District reports ADA gains and estimates nearly $5.9M in additional funding from improved attendance

The Acton-Agua Dulce Unified education subcommittee received an attendance briefing showing the district exceeded its projection for the 2025–26 year and staff highlighted program-level gains that translate into estimated fiscal increases.

The presenter said the district’s regular program grew about 3.19%, which staff estimated would equal roughly $478,500 in additional funding. Independent study enrollment rose about 18% (presenter-reported: $2,793,000); short-term independent study increased about 14% (reported: $2,109,000); Virtual Academy attendance improved about 2.2% (reported: $330,000); and SDC increased about 1.24% (reported: $186,000). The presenter summarized those program-level changes as an approximate aggregate gain of $5,896,000 for next year.

Committee members noted the districtwide attendance rate has improved since last year. “Now we're at 95.5,” a committee member said, contrasting that with last year’s 92.5 average. Members credited site leaders and the attendance recovery initiative for the gains and asked staff to continue drilling down by school and grade to identify remaining gaps.

The presenter cautioned that some metrics are still being finalized and that fiscal estimates use a midrange assumption; staff said they used approximately $150,000 per 1% ADA change for regular program calculations and supplied the program-specific dollar figures during the briefing. The presenter also said other data feeds (Aeries, CALPADS) and reporting timelines can affect when figures are visible on public dashboards.

The subcommittee did not take formal action on the estimates; staff said they would continue refining the numbers and share updated metrics at future meetings.