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Board hears enrollment trends, charter/cyber tuition impact and certified tuition figures
Summary
During its May 14 meeting the board reviewed the district enrollment report, clarified how cyber, homeschool and nonpublic students are counted, and heard that the district budgets about $2 million annually for charter and cyber tuition; staff cited certified 24-25 tuition figures used in planning.
Trustees spent a substantial portion of the May 14 meeting discussing enrollment reporting and the budgetary impact of charter and cyber-school tuition. Staff clarified that the district's core enrollment number (the 1,942 figure discussed in board materials) excludes separate columns for cyber charter, homeschool and nonpublic students, which are shown separately in the report.
Board members asked whether the three columns to the right of the main enrollment table are included in the 1,942 figure; staff confirmed they are not. Trustees and staff noted that historic comparisons are affected by when the district began collecting those separate categories and that the net district population has shifted among in‑district, nonpublic and cyber enrollments over time.
The board also discussed the financial effect of students who attend charter and cyber schools. A district staff presenter explained that charter and cyber schools are public and that, under state law, the district pays tuition to those schools for students who reside in the district. Staff cited a roughly $2,000,000 annual allocation in the district budget for those payments. Certified tuition figures referenced by staff for 24-25 included $16,679.27 for a regular-education charter tuition figure and cited higher special-education tuition amounts (brick-and-mortar charter special-ed cited at $37,245.53 and special-ed cyber cited at about $32,957.76), numbers staff said are used in planning until the state certifies 24-25 rates.
Why it matters: These tuition flows and classification rules affect district revenues, program funding and transportation costs. Trustees asked about oversight differences between brick-and-mortar charters (which have a chartering district) and cyber charters (which the district said it does not directly oversee), and pressed staff for clarity on how funds are calculated and reported.
Next steps: Staff said they can produce graphs and historical summaries showing how the various enrollment categories have changed over time and provide additional detail on tuition calculations.
