‘Fractional ADA’ plan would shift funding

Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, asked Luna how his proposal for “fractional ADA” would work. ADA is average daily attendance, and is a major piece in how the state parcels out funding to school districts. Luna said, “We’re paying to educate the same child twice. … If we can identify when a student is taking one course out of a traditional school, then the money follows the student.” The idea, he said, is that if a student takes five regular classes and one online class through the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, two-thirds of the funding for that one class would be shifted to IDLA, while the other third would stay with the student’s school to reflect fixed costs.