Memo: Canutillo ISD to charge tuition to new out-of-state students

The Canutillo Independent School District will begin charging new, out-of-state students tuition for the 2017-2018 school year, according to a memo obtained by ABC-7.

District spokeswoman Liza Rodriguez confirmed that New Mexico students who choose to transfer into Canutillo ISD must pay almost $9,600 dollars for a year of enrollment.

District officials came to that number because they say that is that is the price of educating a student in the district. Currently, the state does not provide funds to educate the 20 existing New Mexican students who attend Canutillo ISD.

However, those 20 students are safe; they are grandfathered in, as long as they have no disciplinary record and transportation provided by a parent or guardian.

“We welcome everyone, but we’re also responsible to our taxpayers and our community,” said Veronica Vijil, Associate Superintendent for the district.

Vijil wrote the memo that was was obtained by ABC-7. The board came to the decision in late April.

“(We want) to ensure that all the students that are receiving instruction in our district – that we have the means to support those students,” Vijil said.

A document posted under the “registration” section of the school’s website does not provide specifics, but reads that new, out-of-state students will be charged: “at a sum that is approximately equal to the sum that was spent by the District on each student in average daily attendance the preceding school year.

Denise Mota, a mother of three young girls, said the policy is fair. “I feel like the burden should be equal for the parents that are paying taxes within the district,” Mota said.

Mota suggested that parents who wish to educate their children in Canutillo ISD should be willing to live in that district. “Maybe they should consider moving,” Mota said.

“I don’t agree with it,” said Maria Pacheco, a Vinton resident, in Spanish. “I think all students should have access to education.”

In the 2015-2016 school year, Canutillo ISD served more than 6,000 students, according to the district’s website. Of those students, 96 percent — or about 5,800 students — are minorities.

Twenty-seven percent of students are English-language learners, according to school’s numbers. One hundred percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The staff-student ratio during the 2015-2016 school year, including administration and professional support, was almost 6 to 1. The teacher-student ratio during that year was 15 to 1.

Ysleta Independent School District does not collect tuition for out-of-state students, a spokesman for the district confirmed.

Because the Socorro Independent School District is not an open-enrollment school, the district only serves Texas students, confirmed Daniel Escobar, a spokesman for the district.

For that reason, SISD does not charge for out-of-state tuition, however, parents are charged for pre-kindergarten, except for families “that qualify under state guidelines,” Escobar said.