"The tuition revenue for students who live outside the city and attend Charlottesville schools has increased more than $60,000 since the 2003-04 school year, even though 55 fewer students have enrolled this year.

Under division policy, parents who do not live within the boundaries of the school division can choose to enroll their children by paying a fee, said Ed Gillaspie, director of finance for city schools.

The policy has been in place for about 10 years, Gillaspie said Thursday in a report to the School Board.

“Non-residents enroll in the high school for two reasons: for the academics, primarily the AP courses and the honor courses, and for the fine arts program,” said Robert Thompson, assistant superintendent for administration.

In 2003-04, the division received $152,405 in non-resident tuition. The division received $216,971 in 2006-07. There has been a drop in non-resident enrollment every year since 2003-04.

When board member Louis Bograd asked for possible reasons to account for the enrollment drop, Gillaspie said he could not explain the decrease. Burnley-Moran Elementary and Venable Elementary have seen the largest drop, he said.

Board member Ned Michie suggested that the non-resident application should provide a list of options that parents can check explaining why they enrolled their child in the division.

“I think it’d be a good idea to have on the application options so parents can check their reasons,” Michie said.

For this year, 46 of the 220 non-resident students who are enrolled are involved in the division’s gifted program, called Quest.

Twelve of the students are in the special education program." (Matt Deegan, The Daily Progress, January 5, 2007)