The Oglethorpe Echo
Students who live outside Oglethorpe County must pay $3,374 to attend Oglethorpe County schools during the 2024-25 school year.
This amount, a 24.5% increase from last year’s rate, was made official at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday. Superintendent Beverley Levine wasn’t in attendance; Assistant Superintendent Kanya Cornish sat in her place.
The increase is largely due to funding that was provided by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic, BOE chair Becky Soto said.
“A majority of (the increase) is where we’re now spending local funds instead of those federal dollars that they gave us because of COVID,” she said. “There were two pots of money, and all of it’s gone now.”
Thirteen students paid out-of-district tuition last school year, administrative assistant Sue Ann Blalock said. That number is expected to remain practically the same, she added.
Out-of-district tuition is calculated yearly based on spending per child and funds received from state and federal governments.
The school system takes the total it spends per student, including all funds, minus federal and state funds, Soto said.
Half the transportation costs are subtracted “because while (out-of-district guardians) are required to bring their kids and pick them up each day, they do use transportation for field trips, extracurricular activities, etc.,” Soto added.
“The amount left is considered the local cost, which is what we spend in local monies (property and sales tax),” Soto said. “That is what we charge out-of-district children.”
Students of teachers who work in the county do not have to pay out-of-district tuition.
In other business, the BOE:
- Unanimously voted to approve the minutes from meetings in May and June.
- Unanimously voted to approve the personnel report, which included six recommended appointments and one retirement.
- Discussed with Blalock the ongoing residency audit for students in kindergarten and third, sixth and ninth grades.
- Discussed potential penalties for homeowners who “deceive” the school district on residency affidavits.
- Unanimously voted to replace an air conditioning compressor in the Oglethorpe County Elementary School gym.