PEORIA, Ill. –Peoria Public Schools has voted against waiving tuition fees for students whose parents are employed by the district, but live outside its boundaries.
Board members Monday night rejected a proposal to revise the parent-employee discount on tuition for non-resident students from 45 percent to 100 percent, with three members voting for the measure, and four opposed.
In January, the school board vote was 3-3, with one member absent that night.
Since 2021, PPS has allowed teachers’ children who don’t live in the district to receive their education at a 45 percent discount. According to the district, that policy has been beneficial in teacher retention.
State lawmakers changed a law in 2023 to give districts more flexibility, and the ability to waive up to 100 percent of out-of-district tuition if school leaders chose that option.
But, according to 25 News, a majority of PPS board members don’t believe the rest of the district would benefit from increasing the discount.
“Our district was in deficit spending some years ago, and we’ve managed to overcome that, and it’s from prudent discipline and making dollars and cents make sense,” Board President Paris McConnell said.
McConnell voted against the proposal in January, saying that parents should be willing to invest in their kids’ education. She stuck to that opinion Monday night and said it’s unfair to allow non-taxpaying people to receive the same education without financially contributing to Peoria Public Schools.
Board members Lynne Costic, Martha Ross, and Larry Ivory sided with McConnell.
Ivory said, “Even though I like the idea of teacher retention, I think 100% is more than what we should accommodate. If it were an alternative of 50%, I would be voting on behalf of that, but because there’s not, I will probably be voting against it.”
Vice President Gregory Wilson and board members Chanel Hargrave-Murry and Christina Rose voted in favor of the proposal.
Rose argued that other Central Illinois school districts have policies that provide a discount to the full extent that the law allows. She said PPS could try it out and always amend the policy if it doesn’t work in their favor.
“It could really help with our teacher retention, especially since our calendar is different than the surrounding areas, it can make it difficult as a parent and teacher to be on separate schedules, so I think it is worth at least exploring,” said Rose.
Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said only five students currently take advantage of the parent-employee discount.
Several other students who live outside the district and whose parents are not PPS teachers pay full tuition of around $10,000.
“It’s not fair to them to have to pay,” board member Martha Ross said.
Peoria Public Schools’ current policy, which includes the 45% discount, expires at the end of this school year.
Comments