Putting together a full budget for a school district like Nogales is a painstaking, monthslong process. There’s state funding, bond money, federal grants, teacher salaries, transportation costs, on and on. And between some grants appearing to be at risk and the ongoing clawbacks from the Gutfahr embezzlement, it has only gotten more complicated this year.

It always starts with just one number, though: the average daily membership (ADM), or the average number of students attending the district each day of the school year, which is the basis for the district’s allocation from the state budget. Under the current system, the district has to guess at the beginning of the year how many students will be attending that year, and use that guess to design the rest of their budget. ×

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