BY
JIM DEVINE
School officials
have reached a tuition deal
for the final classes to attend Salem
High School.
In a 4-0 vote on Tuesday,
April 1, the new School Board
ratified an agreement with Salem
that would ensure a tuition
contract that would allow next
year’s sophomore and junior
classes to graduate from Salem
High School.
In February, board members
voted to open Windham High
School in 2009 with just a freshmen
and sophomore class while
allowing the classes of 2010 and
2011 to finish in Salem.
Opening with half the student
body in 2009 offers some
cost savings on faculty and operation
costs, Superintendent
Frank Bass said.
In the first school year of
2009-10, the school district
would save $642,000, Bass said.
In the 2010-11 school year, the
school district would show a savings
of $337,000.
New School Board member
Mark Brockmeier was not present
for the meeting, but sent a
statement affirming the School
Board’s decision to work out a
tuition agreement as planned.
Bass said the new contract
decreases tuition by 3.8 percent
from the 2008-09 tuition extension
agreement.
Next year’s base rate of
$9,275 per pupil would lower to
$8,917 per student in the 2009-
10 school year.
The reduction comes from
the elimination of a 5 percent
penalty Salem enforced after
Windham delayed its departure
until fall 2009.
Salem argued that the penalty,
amounting to about $600,000,
would offset increased materials
costs for delaying its high school
renovation, which would coincide
with Windham’s departure.
The additional funds offered
little help with the approval of
Salem’s renovation project since
it failed by a two-to-one majority
in last month’s election.
Windham School Board Vice
Chairman Bruce Anderson supported
the contract but hoped for
another agreement to prohibit
Salem from approaching next
year’s freshmen with an additional
tuition deal.
“There’s no way as a board
member that I’d support next
year’s freshmen to go there,” Anderson
said.
School Board member Michael
Hatem suggested the
board should just agree to not
enter tuition agreements beyond
2011.