As the Regional School District 4 (R4) ramps up for budgeting season at the start of next year, the final numbers for average daily membership (ADM), which is the basis for each town’s cost share for shared services and to run the middle and high schools, has been calculated.

“We can see that there is a shift in cost share from Chester and Deep River to Essex,” said R4 Finance Director Kelly Sterner at a Nov. 5 R4 Board of Education meeting.

The ADM is calculated, in part, using enrollment data from the current school year that is submitted to the Connecticut State Department of Education each Oct. 1. This data is based on student enrollment by district.

For budget cost sharing purposes in R4, each student must be recorded in his or her town of residence. R4 re-sorts the figures submitted to the state, helping to ensure each town’s fiscal accountability.

Sterner provided the pre-K program as an example of this procedure.

“All kids are reported as attending Essex as their school district,” she said. “As far as allocating for ADM, we are going to put them in their town of residence.”

The data reported to the state already includes out-of-district placements, but R4 must add students attending magnet schools or the Middletown Regional Agricultural Science and Technology center.

The figures do not include students attending technical high schools or adult education.

For the 2021-’22 school year, the total of students at John Winthrop Middle School and Valley Regional High School, or R4’s ADM, was 853. This was a change from the 2020–’21 school year count of 868.

Chester’s student count decreased, from 212 students for the 2020–’21 school year to 202 students for the ‘22 school year. Deep River’s student count also decreased, from 311 to 298 students. Essex saw an increase, from 345 to 353 students, according to R4 ADM budget documents for the 2021-’22 school year.

Sterner attributed the changes to the “outgoing senior class make-up versus that incoming 7th grade,” she said, noting that after examining class sizes for the current 11th and 12th grades versus 5th and 6th grades, “I don’t believe we will see a big shift like this again. This is pretty substantial.”

Essex’s ADM allocation increased by 1.63 percent, from 39.75 percent for the 2020–’21 school year, to 41.38 percent for the 2021-’22 school year. Deep River’s decreased by 0.89 percent, from 35.83 percent for the 2020–’21 school year, to 34.94 percent for the 2021-’22 school year. Chester’s decreased by 0.74 percent, from 24.42 percent to 23.68 percent.

In addition to the ADM for the middle and high schools, the ADM was calculated for allocating costs within the Supervision District. The Supervision District funds the programs and services shared among the five schools in the district.

There is a three-way allocation for funds shared among the three elementary schools and a four-way allocation for funds shared among the three elementary schools and the middle and high schools.

For the three-way ADM allocation under Supervision District, the Chester school district saw a 2.67 increase to 28.55 percent. The Deep River school district saw a 0.78 percent decrease to 31.83 percent. The Essex school district saw a 1.89 percent decrease to 39.62 percent.

For the four-way ADM allocation under Supervision District, the Chester school district saw a 1.26 percent increase to 13.18 percent. The Deep River school district saw a 0.32 decrease to 14.7 percent. There was a 0.82 percent decrease to 18.3 percent in the Essex School District. And R4 saw a 0.12 percent decrease to 53.82 percent.

One of the district’s first budget workshops for the 2021-’22 school year is for the Supervision District. It will be held Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m., according to the district’s calendar of meetings posted online at www.reg4.k12.ct.us.