Sikeston R-6 Board of Education approves 2023-2024 tuition, keeps rate the same

SIKESTON — The 2023-2024 tuition rate for Sikeston Public Schools will remain the same rate it has been for the past couple years.

During their regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 12 at Central Office, Sikeston R-6 Board of Education members approved the recommended tuition rate of $8,250 for the current school year.

“That is the amount our tuition has been for the last few years,” Cheryl Essner, R-6 director of finance, told the Board. “You’ll remember, a few years ago, we went up pretty significantly. We’ve kept it that rate a couple of years now.”

The recommended tuition rate equals the tuition rate from 2020-2021 which had increased $804 from the 2019-2020 school year. Because of added COVID expenses and income during 2020-2023, the decline in average daily attendance and the fact that tuition increased more than 10% recently are reasons Essner said she recommended to continue with the same rate.

“We currently have one student’s family that pays tuition, but we’ve had numerous tuition inquiries from parents in surrounding school districts recently,” Essner said.

She also noted Sikeston’s rate isn’t the highest as nearby Cape Girardeau School District’s tuition rate is $10,500.

“Mrs. (Superintendent Shannon) Holifield and I both agreed that ($8,250) would be a fair amount, and we could educate a child for that without taking away from our other children who live in the district,” Essner told the Board.

The 2020-2021 tuition rate was calculated using the “Suggested Worksheet Determination of Basic Tuition Charge” found in the “School Finance Section” of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s website, according to Essner.

In other action by the Board on Tuesday, they approved DESE’s Model Compliance Plan for implementation of the Part B State Plan of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.