A small school district in Westchester County is examining whether it can afford to educate 17 children of its employees who reside outside the district.

Like many school districts in New York, the North Salem Central School District allows its nonresident employees to enroll their kids in district schools at little or no expense.

Although North Salem legally can charge as much as $22,272 for nonresident tuition, teachers and other district employees can enroll their kids for “only the cost of materials, a few hundred dollars a year,“ according to the Journal News.

William Lang, a resident, has pushed the school district to revise its tuition policies.

“In light of the current economic climate and tight district budget, nonresident students should be required to pay their fair share of the cost or asked to leave the district with the corresponding cost savings made by the district,” he said.

Although the tuition policy has been discussed publicly for months, the board took no action for this school year. Instead it referred the matter to its policy committee in the fall.

“We’re looking at it because of the concerns that have been raised about it,” said school board President Katherine Daniels.

The district, it appears, does not have a handle on how much it costs to educate its employees’ kids. Costs are partially offset by state aid.

Officials say they accept new students only if they would not tip the class-size limits. However, the School Superintendent Kenneth Freeston acknowledged in March he was not confident once a child is enrolled, the district annually evaluated his or her impact on the school budget.

Freeston argued during a budget meeting in February that the students would likely leave if tuition was raised to the limit and, at the same time, the budget couldn’t be cut by a corresponding amount.The district would also lose state aid for the students, he said recently.

Freeston has suggested a possible tuition of $2,000 a year for children of district employees, phased in over three years.

“By law the district could charge up to a tuition rate set by the state, $17,011 for kindergarten through sixth grade and $22,272 for seventh through 12th graders,” the Journal News reports.

The tuition perk is not mentioned in the district’s labor contracts with its teachers union or superintendent. The contracts are posted on SeeThroughNY.net.

The contracts also include pay scales. North Salem teachers with a master’s degree and 15 years experience earn a base salary of $98,180; 20-year veterans are paid $100,755. Salaries of individual teachers and and administrators also are available on SeeThroughNY.net.

North Salem, which describes itself as “a model public school district,” had an enrollment of 1,343 students in 2008-09, according to the state Department of Education.

Originally Published: NY Public Payroll Watch, July 15, 2010