MADISON, Wis. — One City Schools will not receive any further per-pupil funding for ninth and tenth-grade students for the 2022-23 school year, according to administrators.
The school announced earlier this month that ninth and tenth grade classes would be ended due to staffing concerns. Administrators said 51 students affected by the closure will transfer to schools within the Madison Metropolitan School District.
RELATED: One City Schools shutting down for students in grades 9, 10 due to staffing shortages
In the wake of the closure, Madison Teachers Inc. called on One City Schools to return state funding that they said was given to the charter school by MMSD. The union representing teachers and other MMSD employees said the district’s budget gave the charter school $472,464 to teach the 51 students who will be transferring to MMSD schools.
The union said that, unless the money was returned, One City Schools would keep nearly half a million dollars in per-pupil funding handed out near the end of January, meant for students who at that point would not be enrolled at the school.
In a memo published Saturday, One City Schools administrators said they believe some claims made about state funding given to the school are inaccurate.
“State per-pupil funds awarded to public charter schools are not distributed in a lump sum at the start of the school year,” the memo stated. “The funds are distributed in four separate payments
throughout the school year, based on two pupil count days.”
The two count days are in September and January. Administrators said One City Schools already received, and used, the funds given from the first count day.
For the second count day, administrators said they reported that zero ninth and tenth graders were enrolled at the school. Because of this, One City Schools will not receive any funding from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction for students in those grades for the rest of the school year.
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