Boards work on tuition cost issue
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer

ALLENTOWN — Millstone Township School District's tuition costs for sending students to the Upper Freehold Regional School District are being reviewed.

Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education President Joe Stampe said the two school districts held their first partnership meeting Aug. 20 to discuss their long-term relationship.

The Millstone district pays tuition to send its high-school-age students to Allentown High School in the regional school district because Millstone does not have its own high school. Tuition costs became a source of contention when the Millstone district lost $352,738 in state aid, as a result of the state determining new adequate levels of spending for students.

The state determined the adequate level of spending for students in grades 9-12 as $11,289 per student. The Upper Freehold Regional School District charges Millstone $12,253 per student, which puts Millstone over the adequate spending level. The state penalized the Millstone district by reducing its state aid.

Stampe called the discussion at the first partnership meeting "spirited" and said the committee has asked the superintendents of both school districts to begin negotiating the current tuition rate.

He said a joint meeting of both boards of education has been scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Sept. 22 in the media center of the Millstone Township Middle School.

"Details subject to the negotiation will be discussed in closed session," he said.