MONROE, MI (WTOL) – School leaders in the Monroe Public School District are asking parents to make sure their kids are in class Wednesday, a day they are calling "Count Day."
A curriculum full of exploratory classes is available in Monroe, but not cheaply. That is why school officials said it is imperative for every student to be in class on Count Day. For every student in his or her seat, the district gets a certain amount of funding.
An absent student can hurt the school's funding.
"We don't end up getting money from the state and it makes it more difficult, more challenging, for us to be able to keep the doors open," explained Ryan McLeod, the district's assistant superintendent.
McLeod said the MPS is projecting a $4 million deficit this year after already making cuts. He expects funding to be down because enrollment is down.
"It's some of the challenges of the economy. When parents lose their jobs, they leave the state. They head out of state to go wherever the jobs are," said McLeod.
For those students still in attendance, and learning, they like what their school has to offer.
"Some of the schools don't, like, have things like we do," said Tricia Pack, an eighth-grader at Monroe Middle School.
School officials want to remind parents that if kids are sick, to keep them at home to prevent the spreading of germs.
Districts should know in a few weeks how much funding they will receive to finish the school year.
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