By Carol P. Bartold

Apr. 12, 2017:  The $47.1 million Bronxville School budget for 2017-2018 anticipates that tuition collections from students attending from outside the district will total $1.425 million.

The Bronxville Board of Education adopted the budget at its March 16 meeting.

Dan Carlin, assistant superintendent for business, estimates that $1.25 million of that tuition will come from special education students. Tuition for these students, Carlin said, ranges from $60,000 to $81,000 per year, depending on the program and services the students require.

The 2017-2018 budget projects that the Bronxville district will enroll fifteen special education students. However, Carlin said, that number will depend on how many village residents must be accommodated in the programs. "We take our own students first," he said, "and then we fill out the remaining seats with tuition students."

Tuition from special education students is projected to be approximately $1.4 million for the year ending June 30, 2017, up from approximately $1.25 million for the 2015-2016 year and approximately $1.38 million for 2014-2015. The special education tuition budget for 2016-2017 stands at $1.25 million.

Dr. Rachel Kelly, assistant superintendent for human resources and pupil services, explained that the committees on special education in those students' home districts have determined that Bronxville, rather than the home districts, has the programs to best meet those students' needs.

According to Carlin, the special education students' home school districts pay the tuition as well as transportation costs to and from The Bronxville School.

The district anticipates that seven regular tuition students, paying $25,000 each, will enroll for the 2017-2018 school year, bringing budgeted revenue to $175,000. Ten regular tuition students, all in the secondary grades, currently attend the school. Carlin stated that three of those students will graduate this year.

After a spike in enrollment during the 2013-2014 school year to approximately 1,700 students, enrollment has held steady in the 1,685 to 1,695 range and is expected to remain at that level. This level of enrollment, Carlin said, could make room for up to ten regular tuition students.

During the 2014-2015 school year, the district collected $249,095 for regular tuition students and during 2015-2016 it collected $189,188. For the current 2016-2017 year, the district expects to collect $232,770 for regular tuition students, against $180,000 budgeted.

The annual budget vote and board election will be held on Tuesday, May 16, in the Blue Gym at The Bronxville School.

Pictured here:  Students playing in front of The Bronxville School.

Photo by A. Warner