When Ferguson-Florissant voters defeated a property tax increase last week, the blow came just as the district was firming up numbers on another source of potential revenue — tuition from transfer students.
The district could see as much as $4 million this school year from Normandy and Riverview Gardens for the nearly 400 students who have enrolled this month under Missouri’s student transfer law.
But Superintendent Art McCoy said the district, which faced a budget shortfall of nearly that same amount this year, does not view the new money as a boon to its financial picture. Rather, he said, the district is focused on helping transfer students succeed.
“We will be spending every cent of money that they need,” McCoy said.
Ferguson-Florissant is one of two dozen school districts in the region that could take in a collective $31 million as they enroll an estimated 2,600 students from the failing Normandy and Riverview Gardens districts. Missouri’s transfer law — upheld by the state Supreme Court in June — grants students in unaccredited districts the right to transfer to better schools, with money for their education coming from their home districts.
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So far, a few districts who stand to gain financially from the influx of students have hired extra teachers or are considering adding tutors. In Kirkwood, which could see $2.1 million for 180 students from unaccredited districts, administrators want to provide activity buses so transfer students can participate in after-school sports and clubs.
“We believe that is a important piece of any child’s experience,” said Ginger Cayce, district spokeswoman.
TUTORS, TEACHES OR BUSES
Even so, school district finance officials say they are cautious about counting dollars they don’t yet have. They are uncertain about the long-term ability of Normandy and Riverview Gardens to pay tuition. And they are leery of adding services for transfer students before they know if the students will show up and keep coming.
“We’re going to take more of a wait-and-see approach,” said Ron Orr, chief financial officer in Pattonville, which has enrolled 97 transfer students with the potential revenue from tuition estimated at $1.4 million.
The picture probably won’t clear up until after Labor Day, when districts start to feel more confident in student enrollment numbers.
As school districts weighed how many transfer students they could accept, administrators looked at space available in current classes. In other words, they did not immediately commit to adding staff to serve the incoming students.
In Mehlville, where more than 200 students from Riverview Gardens will ride the bus to classes beginning today, Superintendent Eric Knost said there were no plans to hire additional teachers. But that could change. He’s hesitant to add staff, he said, without knowing for sure the money will be there to pay them.
“At this point in time, I have no idea of how that money will flow into Mehlville,” he said. “We’re trying to be communicative, back and forth, but it’s been tricky at best.”
But at some districts, the enrollment numbers have tipped the scale enough for administrators, who have made promises to residents about maintaining class sizes. In some cases, the only way to do that was to hire more teachers, at least temporarily.
Ferguson-Florissant has added eight teachers, with plans to place another 10. Kirkwood — which typically adds three or four teachers just before school, based on enrollment — also has added 10 this year.
Francis Howell added four elementary teachers. Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Steve Griggs said the district would have hired those teachers even without the transfers because the class sizes were already larger than the district wants. He’ll go to the School Board tonight to ask for permission to hire eight more if need be.
“I have some situations that I’m keeping my eyes on,” Griggs said. “It’s going to depend on how those shake out.”
The district also wants to provide additional money to its schools for tutoring.
School Board Member Mark Lafata said he planned to propose that the district send back to Normandy any tuition money the district is not using for direct costs tied to the transfer students.
“The money is coming from their tax base. It should be helping their school district, not improving ours,” he said.
Transfer students who have seats at schools in Francis Howell, Mehlville and Kirkwood can ride a bus, at the expense of the unaccredited districts. Those going elsewhere have to find their own way. That’s why McCoy says Ferguson-Florissant may use some of the tuition money to help with transportation to and from schools.
Ferguson-Florissant adjoins the unaccredited districts, but officials at distant districts say providing transportation would be more difficult and expensive.
Tuition for nonresident students at area school districts ranges widely. It is calculated based on a statutory formula that accounts for things such as operating costs and debt service. Tuition in Mehlville is $9,300; in Clayton, the district charges $19,861.
The total funds districts receive will be based on how many students stay enrolled and their attendance.
Parkway’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Stockwell said that the district had hired some temporary enrollment staff, but that administrators would continue to monitor class sizes before hiring more teachers.
“There is so much urgency and uncertainty tied to this process,” he said. “We’ve tried to just focus on making sure every student is treated well.”
Elisa Crouch of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
