Frazier considers change in tuition fee
PERRYOPOLIS – Frazier School District officials are proposing to reduce the tuition fee for children of employees living outside the district under a revised policy the school board is set to vote on this month. Donald Martin, superintendent, said under the change employees interested in having their child attend Frazier would pay $2,000 instead of the current rate of $9,000 per year.
“It’s a professional courtesy,” said Martin.
While the revision refers to “all employees,” it doesn’t specify if they are required to be full-time.
Martin said it was up to the board to determine any further changes.
Overall, Martin said the staff and board are looking to revise three separate policies that have become outdated or need more attention as far as benefiting the district as a whole.
“Our philosophy going into these policies is that somebody can take a look at them 20 years from now and they would make sense,” said Martin.
In addition to the reduced tuition, the other polices being addressed involve the district’s cyber school program and time equalization among teachers at the high school that falls under teacher and student dismissals.
According to Martin, officials found the reduced tuition rate tied in with the registration timing of the district’s kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs currently in progress.
However, Martin noted the district would accept children of residents first, then open it up to children of employees.
For the last two years Martin said the program was open to 3- and 4-year-olds, but the district would only accept 4-year-olds for next year’s registration so it could focus more on getting them ready for kindergarten.
Martin added the district plans to continue operating two morning and two afternoon classes that each have between 12 and 25 students taught by two teachers with two classroom aides.
When the district incorporated its own cyber school program last year the primary goal was to have Frazier students receive an education and a diploma from their home school.
The program resulted in a $10,000 savings, but Martin said it remains a work in progress.
“We found there were additional policies that needed to be put into effect with our student handbook that deals with enrollment, how do we keep track of them and what happens if they start to fail,” said Martin.
Martin described the program as falling into a gray area since it is relatively new opposed to previous programs where the district didn’t have input.
“With our own cyber program we pretty much regulate these students,” said Martin.
At the high school, Martin said block scheduling has made it nearly impossible for teachers to receive common planning time, an incentive required under the Race to the Top funding initiative Frazier was a candidate for under the state’s application.
“We try our hardest to get people together on the same kind of prep times in their area of concentration, but it’s just impossible,” said Martin.
In tackling the issue, Martin is suggesting the policy include holding monthly Act 80 days where students would be dismissed and teachers would meet for professional development.
According to Martin, the existing policy indicates that if students are sent home for some reason the teachers are also dismissed.
“First, there needs to be a purpose to revise a policy and second, when we revise it we need to make sure it’s beneficial for everybody,” said Martin. “The concentration is obviously the education programs.”