I worked as a teacher and principal at the Ripton Elementary School for 20 years beginning in the first fall the “new” school was opened. When Ripton no longer tuitioned students to Mary Hogan, and for the next 18 years, our student population averaged 65. We never had 80 students. Today the student population is 55 (five are tuition students from Hancock and Granville). The business manager at the ACSD Central Office sent me this information:
“The tuition number does fluctuate as students come and go, but at the start of the school year, we had 11 students at MUMS, five at Ripton, 19 at MUHS, and four at Mary Hogan School, all from the Hancock/Granville/Rochester region. This amounts to about $147,087 in elementary tuition and $528,600 for secondary. The total cost of the Hancock/Granville/Rochester bus run is $43,329 this year. We do occasionally get tuition students from other areas, but they are primarily from the Hancock/Granville/Rochester area.”
The tuition students do not count in the per-pupil figures for the state. The tuition money does not offset our per-pupil costs, but this is good income for ACSD.
Jane Phinney
Ripton