The Boyle County Schools Board of Education (BOE) passed the second reading of changes to several nonresident admittance policies at its meeting on April 21.

The changes are as follows:

• Nonresidents will be enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis and limited by board-established capacities.

• All enrolled nonresidents will be charged $500 tuition for the 2022-23 school year.

• Transportation will not be provided to any resident address outside of the Boyle County School District. The board may plan to make exceptions to this rule during the May 12 working session of the BOE.

• Boyle County Schools will annually publish the date that they will begin accepting nonresident applications for the following school year.

• Applications are now being accepted as of April 22. The link to the application can be found on Boyle School’s website. Applications will not be processed until on or after June 1.

Both the middle and high school will be capped at 243 per grade level. At Woodlawn Elementary, grades K-3 are capped at 92; and grades 4-5 are 108 each. At Perryville Elementary, grades K-3 are 46; and grades 4-5 are 54. At Junction City Elementary, grades K-3 are 69; and grades 4-5 are 81.

The Boyle County Day Treatment (grades 6-12) will be capped at 10 total. The building and classroom capacities are what determined these caps.

Deanna Padgett, student services specialist, said that the $500 tuition is a way to offset educational expenses not covered by SEEK.

The district currently has 159 nonresident students, who, according to the school, will be grandfathered in.

“The policy was written that current nonresident students are grandfathered in and do not have to apply. Going forward, all nonresident students will be charged $500 in tuition,” said Padgett.

Non-resident students were previously admitted through two policies. The Reciprocal Enrollment program allowed students in 13 surrounding districts to transfer to Boyle County Schools free of charge. The Tuition Program allowed those in a non-reciprocal district to attend Boyle County Schools by paying an annual $2,400 tuition.

When the state government passed House Bill 563 in 2021, the BOE decided to re-evaluate its nonresident policies in an effort to give parents and students more control over their educational options.

“It empowers families to choose the school district that they want their child to be educated in,” said Chris Holderman, assistant superintendent.

However, Holderman said that the negative impact is, “There’s a chance there won’t be an opening in every grade level at every school, which keeps certain nonresidents from attending Boyle County Schools,” he said.

Applications are currently being accepted for nonresident enrollment with a deadline of June 1.