Board asks for clearer tuition and out‑placement totals after administrator reports more than $1 million in incoming tuition

At the Oct. 5 work session the New Milford Board of Education asked district administrators for a clearer accounting of tuition contracts and special-education placement costs after a board member flagged the line items as sizable and difficult to assess from meeting backup.

Board member Judy requested that the district present, at a future meeting, a year‑to‑date summary that shows the total dollar amount and number of students being sent out under tuition contracts and the corresponding amounts the district is collecting for programs that bring out‑of‑district students here. "I think it would be good... for the board to know the totality of the dollar amount of the number of students that are being sent," she said.

In response, Superintendent Danielle said the district has brought in "over a million dollars, of incoming tuition for students who are coming to school here for the programs that we offer this year." She and other administrators discussed how tuition revenue can offset the cost of running specialized programs and the importance of presenting both outlays (what the district pays to send students out) and incoming tuition (what other districts pay New Milford to enroll students) to give the board perspective.

Board members suggested starting with a tuition‑only breakdown, then adding transportation and related outside services in later reports. Administrators agreed to prepare the requested totals for a future meeting so the board can compare program costs and revenues and better understand the fiscal tradeoffs of running in‑district programs versus placing students out.

No vote was taken; the item was treated as an information request to be returned with data at a subsequent meeting.