The Francis Howell Board of Education on Thursday approved tuition increases for the district's Vacation Station and preschool programs in 2012-13.
During the same meeting, administrators discussed the possibility of adding 10 certified teaching positions next school year.
The board voted 5-1 to approve the new tuition rates for two programs: Vacation Station, which provides before- and after-school care for district students, as well as day care between school sessions; and the preschool program for children ages 3-5.
The board approved a new Vacation Station rate of $70 per week for before- and after-school care, a 1.5 percent increase over the current $69. Inter-session care will increase 2.3 percent to $136 from the current $133.
The preschool program will increase its half-day tuition rate to $19 per day, a 4.1 percent increase over the current $18.25. Full-day tuition will increase 2.2 percent to $184 from the current $180.
Both programs are intended to operate on a break-even basis, said Chief Financial Officer Kevin Supple. Tuition has increased for both programs during the last three years after remaining steady for three years.
Board President Mike Sommer and members Mike Hoehn, Amy McEvoy, Steve Johnson and Marty Hodits voted for the tuition increases. Mark Lafata cast the dissenting vote. Cynthia Bice was absent.
Lafata said Supple did not present sufficient documentation to justify the increases. Lafata said he wanted to see an analysis of actual expenditures and revenues during the last three years, instead of the revenue projections included in Supple's presentation. Sommer said Supple provided detailed cost and revenue analysis during a previous board meeting.
Steven Griggs, the district's human resources director, discussed adding 10 teaching positions for 2012-13. Griggs said the positions are needed to maintain optimum class sizes, especially in grades K-2.
Griggs said the plan called for a net increase of 10, but that did not mean the positions would be added while leaving the current staff as is. Griggs said some positions would be eliminated, but the number of added positions would be 10 greater than the number of cut positions. In some schools, the total number of staff might decrease, he said.
The 10 positions would cost about $563,500, based on the district's average teacher salary of $56,350, not including benefits, Griggs said.
Current class sizes are within the state's maximum standards but exceed the state's desirable standards, Griggs said. The added positions would decrease class sizes to within the desirable standards, he said.
Griggs said he would make a formal presentation with greater detail during a Feb. 3 work session.
He recommended the district retain the 13 positions it added in the fall. The board on Nov. 3 approved hiring 10 paraprofessionals, or teachers' aides — one at each of the district's elementary schools. The aides were hired to help third-graders improve their reading skills and work one-on-one with struggling students. The other three hires were two kindergarten teachers and one fourth-grade teacher.
