State formula altered

The formula used by the state to set the rates for high schools that accept nonresident students changed last year when costs associated with technical or vocational programs were removed from the calculation.

Even though Maine law specifies that costs for educating tech students should not be included in the formula, they were until last year, said Jim Rier, Department of Education director of finance and operations, last week.

A school system challenged the formula in 2003, resulting in the change last year, he said.

“We didn’t change any law; we just conformed to it,” Rier said.

School systems statewide must estimate the tuition amount and the number of students to expect during budget preparations each spring, and any miscalculation can drastically affect the budget revenues for the next year.

“Unfortunately, the way the law is written, we still have to count the [vocational] kids,” said Suzan Cameron, Department of Education school finance supervisor, last week.

The overall operating costs for the preceding year is divided by the number of students to calculate the tuition rates, with an adjustment made for inflation.

State law has always stated that expenditures for special education, career or technical education, community service, major capital outlay, debt retirement and tuition and transportation are not to be counted in the tuition calculation.

Both Rier and Cameron said they anticipate the Legislature will address the tuition computation issue this year.

“This is an old way to calculate a tuition rate,” Rier said. “It’s just looking at statewide operating costs divided by students. It may not work that well.

“We need to update how we calculate,” he said. The department must annually release the tuition rates by Dec. 15. This year the numbers were released on Nov. 27.

“We’d like to have something so they have their rate when school starts,” Cameron said.