School Board Special Meeting On Non-Resident Policies
Enrolling Grandchildren of Piedmont Residents And CA State’s New “Open Enrollment” Policies
The Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) Board will hold a special meeting Tuesday, November 1 to discuss the District’s policies on student enrollment of grandchildren of Piedmont residents, as well as new state policies for “Open Enrollment” of other students who do not reside in Piedmont. The meeting will begin at 7 pm in City Hall and end at 9 pm.
Inter-district transfer policies will be the only subject under discussion. To review the information packet go to the District site at http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/board-of-education/meeting-materials
The Piedmont Civic Association (PCA) has submitted inquiries to the District to clarify the current status of enrollment, cost per student, local sources of funding, and numbers of non-resident students. District responses provided are noted below the inquiries.
NON-RESIDENT STUDENTS
-How many PUSD students do not reside in Piedmont? What is their percentage of the total school population? How many are not children of City or PUSD employees?-What are the current policies regarding City and School employee children attending PUSD? For example, once non-resident students are enrolled, can they remain in the school district through high school?
PUSD COST PER STUDENT
-What is the current cost per student? How much of the cost per student is covered by a Piedmont source, including donations, property, income, business or parcel taxes or fees?District response: “Cost per student is calculated by dividing the District’s total expenditures by the total number of students enrolled in the District.”
– Does the cost per student include local bond funds? What is the bond fund cost per student?
District response: “Bond funds are NOT used for the general operation of the District. The bond funds are used for facilities only.
Please refer to financial information posted on the PUSD website at:” http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/district-info/budget/current
NON-RESIDENT STUDENTS
-How many PUSD students do not reside in Piedmont? What is their percentage of the total school population? How many are not children of City or PUSD employees?-What are the current policies regarding City and School employee children attending PUSD? For example, once any non-resident student is enrolled, can they continue to remain in the school district through high school?Inquiry was made regarding the following District announcement:
“A request was generated by several community members to allow grandchildren who reside outside of Piedmont, but have grandparents residing in Piedmont, to attend Piedmont schools. Other requests have surfaced to expand the criteria for interdistrict attendance. Conversely, requests to oppose expanding interdistrict attendance have been received.”District response: Requests for the consideration of grandchildren were made verbally at Board meetings over the past few years. Written requests will have to be researched and will be provided by November 15, 2011.– Does the City of Piedmont subsidize the costs of City employee’s children who attend PUSD? If so, what is the cost per student and total amount paid to PUSD in 2011-12?
District response: City of Piedmont contributes the equivalent “average”cost of one full time student to the District annually.[per student]
