Florence School District One proposed an increase on out-of-district tuition fees for families during the next school year.
The district is working to raise the tuition to almost $3,000 and some parents think that’s too much.
“The means that they make you go about paying that is too high. It’s too high for our children’s education, is too much of a risk and it’s not fair,” said parent, Renee Graham.
Superintendent, Richard O’Malley suggested during Thursday’s board meeting to raise the tuition for students who don’t live in the district but attend Florence one schools.
This school year, nearly 150 students paid $550. The proposed increase would raise that to $3,585, that adds up to nearly $500,000.
“This could go towards raises for our employees. I put a calculation at four percent and that alone was showing how we can have a recurring revenue source for raises for some of our employees. That would be paid by students and families that don’t even live in our district,” said Dr. O’Malley.
The proposed number is based on what a district is allowed to charge by law. Dr. O’Malley tells News13 the current tuition rate hasn’t changed in the last eight years.
“I wanted to make sure the board fully understood the implication of how we calculate and how we come up with the tuition rate,” said Dr. O’Malley.
Some parents are not fully on board with this change.
“There should be some sort of solution like fees lowered, or payment plans where parents can pay throughout the school year for their children to attend,” said Graham.
Florence One school board members will meet next Thursday to talk more about the tuition rate.
