Board approves $200 summer tuition and meal‑plan increase; foundation and aid programs to absorb need

The Governor's School board approved a $200 increase to each summer-session tuition tier and to the residential meal plan following a finance report that cited rising costs for food, supplies and construction.

Betsy Beam, the school's vice president for finance and administration, told trustees the school had not raised fees in two years and that a flat $200 increase would apply to one‑week, two‑week and five‑week summer sessions and to the RHS meal plan. Beam said Aramark — the school's food services contractor — has a 6% cap on annual price increases under contract, which helped limit this year’s pass‑through but did not fully cover rising food costs.

Board members noted that the school's foundation provides scholarships and endowments to help students who cannot afford tuition and meal fees. Beam said the foundation recently covered large portions of aid and that, for the current year, approximately 39% of residential‑high‑school students and 29% of summer students received financial aid. She estimated that the school itself would absorb roughly $200,000 of food-costs this year, with the foundation contributing about $260,000 toward meal assistance.

Board members moved and seconded the tuition-and-meal increase and approved it by voice vote during the meeting. The board also agreed to change the previously called “deposit” into a nonrefundable “enrollment fee” to reduce applicant confusion; the enrollment fee was presented as part of the updated fee schedule.

Finance staff cautioned trustees that the state budget remains in conference committee; the school expects a conference result of between $500,000 and $1 million for a pending appropriation item (previously requested at $6.5 million total for a gallery/flexible space project, with $1 million allocated in an earlier phase). Beam recommended the board be prudent with encumbrances until the state budget is finalized.