Policy to allow non Troup residents to attend schools (for a fee) moves forward
Published 12:00 am Friday, February 19, 2016
LaGRANGE — A policy that would allow students who live outside the county to attend Troup schools if they pay a tuition cleared its first hurdle Thursday.
The Board of Education approved the first reading of the policy, which will be reviewed for a second reading at the board meeting in March. If approved, the measure would go into affect July 1.
The board will still need to decide on the tuition cost to nonresident students, and payment schedules and deadlines. An additional fee would be added for students coming to the system from out of state, because the state will not reimburse local school systems for students who are not Georgia residents, said school system CFO Byron Jones.
Any nonresident attending a Troup County school would not have transportation provided by the school system.
The policy would not affect students who live in Harris County within the city of West Point, who are allowed to attend Troup County schools at no additional cost.
It also will not affect a provision allowing school system employees who are Georgia residents to enroll their children at the school where they are employed. It will add the ability for employees who live out of state to let their children attend the school, but they still will be required to pay the out-of-state tuition fee.
In other business, the board on Thursday approved:
• Purchasing new band uniforms for LaGrange High School at a cost of $91,192 to DeMoulin Bros & Co. The Callaway Foundation has awarded a grant for $55,000 toward the cost of the band uniforms, according to school system documents. The LaGrange High School Band Boosters will reimburse TCSS for the remainder of the cost of the band uniforms.
• Designating Tyler Technologies Inc. as the software provider for the school system’s finance and human resources departments for a fee not to exceed $700,000 and approve the superintendent and board chairman to execute a contract as approved by legal counsel. Jones said he was unsure how much of the cost might be eligible for special-purpose, local-option sales tax — SPLOST — funds and how much would come out of the system’s general fund.
• Contracting with Boelter Direct South to provide kitchen equipment at several schools for a total cost of $534,506. Cost would come from SPLOST funds.
• Accepting Torrance Construction as general contractor for HVAC renovations and to install a new fire alarm system at Long Cane Elementary School for $1,753,233. The funds will come from $302,853 in Georgia Department of Education capital outlay funds and $1,450,380 from SPLOST.
• A resolution stating that the Troup High School reflooring project has been completed and paid in full, required by the Georgia Department of Education Facilities Division before it can reimburse the school system. Total cost was $1,223,082.81, with $965,155 from the state DOE and $257,927.81 from local SPLOST funds.
• Hiring MJR Solutions Company to replace the roof at the Troup High School Fine Arts Auditorium, which was damaged during the Christmas-time heavy rains, for $392,171.66.
• A purchase order for $49,717.65 to Sterling Computers for Chromebooks to be used at secondary schools. Funded by SPLOST.