Lakeland rolls out tuition pilot, budgets conservatively for new students

Lakeland School presented details of a tuition pilot designed to update billing practices, improve transparency for partner districts and test whether additional tuition students can be served within current capacity.

The pilot included converting an open teaching position to a speech-language pathologist to address a capacity barrier and allow more tuition enrollments. The presenter said existing districts that had students before the model's implementation would pay 0.667 of the calculated tuition during the phase-in period, while students added since pilot implementation would be billed at the full calculated tuition rate.

Administrators budgeted conservatively for the 2027 school year, projecting revenue at $30,000 per anticipated additional tuition student and estimating three new tuition students in the budget. If all anticipated students enrolled and services align, total tuition revenue could reach roughly $777,000; presenters cautioned timing and differing student service needs make exact revenue uncertain.

The board discussed the model's transparency benefits and the potential for partner districts to consider full costs when deciding whether to send students to Lakeland.

The tuition pilot and revenue assumptions will be considered in the finance review and any changes to partner-district billing will be coordinated through ongoing district engagement.