$3,150 Kindergarten Fee Considered, New Map Approved In D-112

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — At a Tuesday meeting of the North Shore School District 112 Board of Education, board members voted to approve a new boundary map and introduced the idea of charging a $3,150 tuition fee to families of students in full-day kindergarten when it is implemented next year, Pioneer Press reported.

After next year's planned closure of two district schools, Lincoln Elementary students will be assigned to attend Indian Trail Elementary, while Elm Place Middle School students will take class at Edgewood Middle School, according to new boundaries approved by the board at its Nov. 28 meeting. Pioneer Press reports board members aimed to avoid multiple consecutive years of disruption by back to back border adjustments, they decided not to redraw the map of attendance areas in southeast Highland Park.

The new tuition fee for full-day kindergarten was calculated by dividing up the projected population of kindergarteners in next year's class by the $1.2 million in extra staffing costs from the program. The district will still provide half-day kindergarten next year, as it is required by law to do so. However, it will not necessarily offer the tuition-free option at all of its seven schools, according to Highland Park News.

Administrators said that once parents start registering new students it will be easier to judge the market demand, but several board members expressed concern that some families that did not qualify for tuition waivers – annual income below $30,044 for a single mother or $53,243 for a couple with three kids – may not be able to afford several thousand extra dollars every year.

» Read more from Highland Park News

» Watch the complete Nov. 28, 2017 NSSD112 board meeting below:

_{Top photo: North Shore School District 112 administrative office | Patch archive, Tim Moran}