RIPLEY
Plan would let students attend nearby high schools
‘Tuitioning’ considered as alternative to merger
Ripley Central School District residents will vote May 19 on a proposition that would allow students in grades nine through 12 to attend any of three neighboring schools.
If the measure is approved, the Ripley district would not have classes for about 130 students in those grades starting in the 2010-11 school year.
Families would have to choose to send their children to the Sherman, Chautauqua Lake or Westfield districts.
Parents would not have to pay anything extra. Taxes paid to the district would cover transportation and education expenses under a program called “tuitioning.”
The Ripley district will negotiate the contracts with the three school districts and will also make arrangements for busing.
“This is new territory for our school district,” said John Hogan, Ripley’s interim district superintendent. He said a school district in Wyoming County has been tuitioning students successfully for many years.
Hogan said that if the measure is approved, Ripley would create contracts with the three school districts, which have agreed to welcome Ripley tuition students.
He said the proposal may or may not affect Ripley staffing. He said busing will be a major issue and will take a lot of study and coordination.
Hogan said the Ripley Board of Education hopes to engage in dialogue with the Westfield Central School District to reconsider a merger of the two districts.
In a straw vote taken in February, a merger was approved by Ripley voters but voted down in Westfield.
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