District News

Canajoharie BOE waives tuition for out of district students

 

July, 2011

 

At its regular meeting on Thursday, June 9, the Canajoharie Board of Education unanimously voted to waive tuition for out-of-district students. The board cited a decline in enrollment in recent years and available space for additional students as reasons for the decision.

Non-resident students will be accepted under three conditions:

• Admission requires no increase in school faculty or staff;

• The district currently has a program for the student; and

• At the time of acceptance, no class has more than the desired number of students.

The view the policy, click here.

Superintendent Richard Rose will determine program capacity and the number of students the district accepts. Mr. Rose said he will monitor class sizes in all of the district’s buildings. The district will not provide transportation for the out-of-district students.

An often-stated fear to accepting out-of-district students is that local taxpayers will be forced to supplement the costs.

“Local taxpayers will not be paying for these students. We have openings in our classes and we’re simply filling seats that are available,” he said. “We’ll make up the lost tuition because we’ll get aid on the additional students.”

Canajoharie currently receives approximately $5,850 in state aid for each student who attends the school—regardless of where the student lives. During the 2010-11 school year, just two student paid tuition to attend. Tuition was set at $3,226 for grades K-6 and $4,446 grades 7-12.

Two new out-of-district students will generate $11,700 in new aid revenue to compensate for the loss of $7,672 in tuition.

The Board of Education believes that eliminating the tuition will entice out-of-district students to come to Canajoharie—students who would not otherwise attend because of the tuition costs—to take advantage of the school’s rich academic, athletic, and arts programs.

“We have a tremendous arts and music program here, including one of the only string orchestras around, and for students who want to pursue that, we have room to accommodate them. We offer interscholastic football and swimming. In the classroom, we have numerous AP college courses,” said Mr. Rose.

Mr. Rose said that over time, the board’s decision will help the district offset losses in state aid tied to declining enrollment and cuts in state aid caused by the state’s fiscal crisis.

“Some people might suggest that if we have all of this extra room, we should cut staff. The fact is that we have some space, but not enough to justify teacher layoffs or more cuts,” said Mr. Rose.

The district cut eight teaching positions — six full-time and two part-time — from the 2011-12 school budget. The cuts increased class sizes and limited electives.

“We’ve made cuts to the point where we can’t layoff anyone without cutting programs” Mr. Rose said.