BOE approves free tuition, busing in Rock Springs
KINGSPORT Students living in areas of Rock Springs the city plans to annex by Jan. 1 will receive free tuition this fall, but only if they attend John Adams Elementary School, Robinson Middle School or Dobyns-Bennett High School.
In addition, the Kingsport Board of Education Thursday night decided those tuition waiver students along with tuition students living in other Rock Springs areas to be annexed between Jan. 1 and July 2011 will receive free bus transportation to one of those three schools if Superintendent Richard Kitzmiller deems it feasible.
Normally, tuition and out-of-zone students do not receive transportation.
The board voted 4-0 with one abstaining on both proposals.
A third motion, also by BOE member Randy Montgomery, would have guaranteed placement in one of the three schools for tuition students in the 2011 group but failed 0-4 with one abstaining.
Im not against it. Im not for it. I dont know where it leads, BOE Vice President Wally Boyd said.
The BOE addressed the tuition issue after the Board of Mayor and Aldermen in June approved a resolution saying it would not oppose waiving tuition for any students to be annexed in the Adams area by July 2011.
Montgomery and Boyd said they had problems giving a two-year tuition waiver to an area the city has not formally annexed or started proceedings to annex, although city leaders at the June 16 meeting said they intend to annex the entire area of almost 1.5 square miles by July 2011.
Weve seen through the years a lot of intent to annex, said Montgomery of annexations that did not come to fruition or were delayed by lawsuits.
City Manager John Campbell has suggested the waiver as a way to increase the population at Adams a school designed for about 500 but with an expected population of between 200 and 240 this fall as well as a way to make it easier for families to keep their children in the same school system K-12. All lawsuits challenging the Rock Springs annexations to date were dismissed.
Sullivan County residents outside Kingsport must pay….
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