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Taxpayers to pay kindergarten
fees
Tuition collection halted until legislators write new state law permitting it Thursday, September 27, 2007 CANDY BROOKS Worthington Schools will no longer charge tuition for full-day kindergarten - for now, at least. Superintendent of Schools Melissa Conrath has decided to forgo collection of the $210 monthly fee from the parents of the district's 405 K-plus students while the legislature attempts to solve the dilemma posed to districts all over the state last week, when Attorney General Marc Dann ruled state law does not permit schools to charge for kindergarten. As in hundreds of Ohio districts, Worthington offers free half-day kindergarten but charges for the full-day program, which receives no state funding. Worthington's full-day program, called K-plus, was started by the school board in 2002. It was determined at the time that the program would be self-supporting. If Worthington eliminates tuition, it will renege on the promise made to taxpayers, board member Marc Schare pointed out at the Monday night board meeting. He recommended that the district continue to charge. "I prefer to error on the side of Worthington taxpayers," he said. But Conrath recommended, and the rest of the board agreed, that tuition collection should be discontinued, but only until state legislators have an opportunity to write a new state law permitting kindergarten tuition. When such a law is approved, parents will be charged retroactively. Worthington collects between $60,000 and $68,000 monthly in K-plus tuition. Most parents pay $210 a month, though some pay less, according to a federally mandated differentiated fee schedule based on income. Board member Charles Wilson said that if the district continued to charge, it could face a lawsuit. Even if the district prevailed, it would cost for legal fees, he pointed out. The district is already receiving phone calls from parents of past K-plus students, claiming that the kindergarten tuition is "unconstitutional" and they are due a refund, Conrath said. Dann did not say charging for full-day kindergarten is unconstitutional, only that state law does not specifically address it. "He's probably right," said Wilson, a law professor at the Ohio State University College of Law. Conrath is working with state Rep. Kevin Bacon, who is attempting to attach to pending legislation a law permitting kindergarten tuition. Passing it in that form, or as emergency legislation, would resolve the question more quickly that writing a new piece of legislation. If K-plus parents wish to continue paying tuition, the district will accept their checks and place them in a special account, Conrath said. Otherwise, parents need to keep in mind that the discontinued tuition will probably be charged retroactively, spread across the remainder of the school year. Payment would continue as soon as the state law goes into effect. "I'm hopeful we can get something through quickly, and that's where we're going to put our efforts," she said. This was the second time in a month that a Dann decision threatened to cost Worthington taxpayers. Dann ruled three weeks ago that public school districts do not have the authority to charge tuition to parents of students who enroll in the Metro School, a high school focusing on math, science and technology and operated in cooperation with Battelle and Ohio State University. Six Worthington students attend Metro, with parents paying $6,200 a year. The Worthington board voted last year to allow Worthington students to enroll at the Metro School, but stated that the district would not pay the tuition. Since the Sept. 10 meeting, when board members threatened to force the Worthington students to withdraw, Conrath forged an agreement with Metro officials that will allow the Worthington students to remain for the rest of the school year, with the district paying "in-kind" by allowing Metro teachers to attend teacher development programs and possibly sharing intervention software. The board must also look at how it might participate in the future. "I would like a resolution by the end of the year," said Conrath. The board congratulated her on the agreement. Board members Schare and David Bressman criticized the timing of Dann's decisions, both of which came after school began. But Wilson defended the Democratic attorney general, who was elected last November. When he took office, there were almost 600 cases awaiting opinions, and Dann took them on in alphabetic order, said Wilson. "There was nothing malicious about the timing," said Wilson, who said he had met with Dann. "I don't necessarily believe what he told Charlie about timing," Bressman said. |