Dodgeland authorizes moving forward on a 2026-27 tuition agreement amid enrollment uncertainty

Trustees authorized the district on April 27 to move forward with a tuition agreement for the 2026–27 school year with a neighboring district, giving Dodgeland first option to accept nonresident students. Administration said a working average per-student cost calculated from district worksheets is roughly $15,000, with special-education placements likely to carry higher per‑student costs.

The district administrator told the board the $15,000 number is an average arrived at by reconciling general education and special-education cost lines and that DPI review and attorney review remain part of the final contract process. "What we don't have is ultimately all the things that pull from that," the administrator said, adding that the contract will lock the worksheet numbers once they are scrubbed with the state and the contracting district.

Board members raised operational questions: whether busing would be required, whether Dodgeland should hire additional special-education staff (administrators estimated possibly two additional special-education teachers depending on final enrollments), and how the one-year horizon could create instability in staffing and scheduling. Administrators noted the neighboring district had indicated it would transport students into Dodgeland and that Dodgeland had negotiated that open‑enrolled students could ride those buses as appropriate.

Trustees also heard that some families had submitted open-enrollment applications to multiple districts; administrators said formal commitments could prompt more definitive enrollment decisions by families. The board voted to authorize entering the agreement and told staff to finalize contract language on transportation, special-education responsibilities and final per‑student charges.

Next steps: staff will finalize contract details, coordinate DPI review and determine staffing needs once enrollment counts stabilize.