Are LAUSD's attendance records accurately reported? | KCAL Investigates
A KCAL News Investigation first uncovered a serious issue involving a single Los Angeles Unified School District school about eight months ago, but in the time since it's been discovered that the issue may be one that permeates throughout the entire sprawling school system.
The investigation found that the problem, marking students present when they're not actually in class, could be affecting an even larger amount of schools than first thought.
In school, attendance is everything. It's valuable lesson time, it provides parents with a surefire way to know where their children are, and it's how schools get funded with tax dollars.
Even with all that on the table, LAUSD's most important leaders are still refusing to speak on the matter.
One LAUSD teacher says that he feels let down not only by LAUSD officials, but also by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
"Clearly something is amiss," said Dan Chang. He says that he was first made aware of the issue at the end of last school year, when someone changed his class attendance records.
Despite having an empty classroom, all of his students were marked present the day after they graduated. He says that principal of James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood explained to him via email that, "This is how the district deals with the culmination."
Chang understands the importance of student attendance for school districts in California.
"It's everything ... students in seats, if they're there, that is how you are funded," he said.
On average, California pays schools about $11 per student per day. This means that on the day that Chang's classroom was suddenly marked present, JMMS would have made more than $51,000 tax dollars for their 462 eighth grade students.
When asked if he thinks that the act was fraud?
"I believe so," Chang said. "I suspect this is a million-dollar problem every year going all the way back."
Looking back
When KCAL News first raised the issue with LAUSD eight months ago, the district claimed that the money was "extremely small." They even sent a recorded message to parents, which partially said that it "does not impact receipts of average daily attendance funding."
LAUSD then said that they were launching an investigation, which led to the quick conclusion that it was an allegedly isolated incident.
Chang doesn't buy it.
"I didn't believe it when they said it to me," he said. "And I don't believe it now."
He checked the numbers for 15 other LAUSD schools by analyzing their attendance system.
"There are at least two schools that have the exact same pattern as Madison," Chang said.
He found that 0% of the 353 eighth graders at Porter Middle School were reported absent the day after their culmination. Still, 100% of those students were marked and certified as present that day. The school's principal did not have a comment when approached by KCAL News.
The trend at Daniel Pearl High School showed much of the same. Though more than 50 seniors were reported absent the day after they graduated, 100% were marked present on official records.
"I'm going to refer you to the office of communications," said Principal Armen Petrossian when approached for comment on the matter.
Chang believes the scope of the problem is much bigger when looked at across the district as a whole.
"Two out of 15 is thirteen and a third percent," he said. "I think it's probably a hundred, a hundred and fifty schools. Maybe 200 schools. ... It's a lot of money."
Mike Fine is the CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, a state operation that performs forensic audits on schools.
"Looking at the actual data and seeing it's not limited to just one teacher's school is a concern," Fine said. "It calls into question, are there other days in the year that the school, or through instructions from the district, asks the schools to mark all kids present."
KCAL attempted to help answer that question, requesting district-wide attendance records for June 9, 2023. It took eight months and lawyer intervention before LAUSD finally released them.
"I am concerned that they are struggling to produce real simple data you've asked for," Fine said.
The data shows that out of LAUSD's 142 middle schools, 120 — or 85% — reported that all students were in attendance that day.
Fine says that is almost impossible.
"I think somebody at LA Unified should talk about it," he said. "I don't think silence does anybody any good."
Forty-three schools reported 100% of their students, 6,884 to be exact, in class after graduating. That's more than $764,000 tax dollars.
District's response
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has said that absenteeism is a priority of his, but he hasn't yet spoken on the matter when approached.
KCAL News Investigative Reporter Ross Palombo attempted to speak with Carvalho about the issue earlier this year, but never received an answer.
In response to the allegations made eight months ago, State Superintendent Thurmond said that he would do something.
"I think whenever there's any instance, even the slightest suggestion of wrongdoing, it should be investigated and reviewed and audited," he said. "We cannot have that in our system."
Chang says he doesn't think it was investigated, reviewed or audited.
"Clearly not," he said.
When approached more recently, Thurmond seemed surprised about the newer allegations that were made. When asked if he thinks an audit is appropriate this time around, he said the only way that could happen is by request from county officials.
"He can't even figure out attendance fraud at a school district when the evidence is presented," Chang said. This is part of the reason why he's been presenting evidence on his own during his recent run for LAUSD's school board.
Chang also uses the matter to teach his own students.
"Persevere," he said. "Every teacher tells their student that."
Upon request for comment, LAUSD has issued a statement that said:
"As previously stated, Los Angeles Unified completed its investigation into an isolated incident of 8th grade student attendance reporting at Madison Middle School for a single day in June 2023. The investigation confirmed this was an isolated incident, it was not widespread and did not occur in other schools and did not impact the Average Daily Attendance funding. The total variance in revenue impact was slightly above $600 out of a multi-billion-dollar budget. The District worked with the State to ensure any necessary corrections were made. Los Angeles Unified takes allegations of potential violations to District policy very seriously and has ensured this is not a widespread practice.
In accordance with CDE guidelines, school districts, including Los Angeles Unified, must enter an exit date when a student leaves the school or at the end of the school year. The exit date should be the last day the student attended the school. In the case where a student does not attend the last day of school, their exit date will be on the last day of attendance. Once a student receives an exit date, they will no longer be included as part of the school district daily attendance rate for any day after their exit date. Los Angeles Unified has followed all State guidelines and applicable laws in this regard."
Beyond the investigation
Chang says that all he wants is a true and thorough investigation or audit on the matter so that it can be made clear exactly what is going on.
Though KCAL News' investigation found dozens of schools claiming 100% attendance on a single day, it's not proof of fraud or of how many children were actually present that day. This is part of the reason why Chang wants a full audit.
Because of the probe, Thurmond has now asked the state auditor to "informally" look into the matter. The results are still unclear.
LAUSD has said in the past that money is not a factor because of an accounting issue where attendance is averaged for the last few months of class.
