School for high-risk youth has prevailed against the State of California in its bid for continued funding.
Retained by Gibson Dunn and New Village Charter School
New Village Charter School Inc., an LA-area charter high school serving at-risk girls and young women, receives supplemental state funding that is dependent on being classified a classroom-based school. This classification requires that the school’s classroom-based average daily attendance (ADA) be at least 80% of total ADA (classroom and online).
In the opinion ruling in favor of New Village, the Superior Court of the State of California credited Dr. Barnes’s opinion.
While New Village argued that it cleared the bar of 80% classroom-based ADA, the State of California countered that New Village had reported only 79.87% ADA and thus fell below 80% for funding purposes.
In partnership with counsel from Gibson Dunn, Ronnie Barnes of Cornerstone Research opined on rounding in the context of school attendance calculations. Among other things, Dr. Barnes opined that, from a mathematical perspective, the objective of rounding is to make a number easier to use or understand while also keeping it close to its original value. Therefore, he concluded that the most appropriate approach would be to round to 80% or more at the final stage of the calculation.
In the opinion ruling in favor of New Village, the Superior Court of the State of California credited Dr. Barnes’s opinion in finding that New Village’s classroom-based ADA was indeed at least 80%, which was consistent with a California Education Code provision that required rounding. After the decision, the State promptly restored New Village’s supplemental funding.
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