After receiving further legal guidance, Kalispell Public Schools trustees will not consider waiving tuition for out-of-district students whose parents are district employees.

Superintendent Mark Flatau brought the issue before the board of trustees after a staff member (a parent living outside the district) requested tuition waivers. It was noted that some district employees may have been granted tuition waivers for their children to attend Kalispell Public Schools while others continued to pay.

Flatau said there will be a complete review of out-of-district enrollment to ensure tuition is paid according to district policy and that “no one has slipped through the cracks.”

Out-of-district students pay $150 in tuition to attend high school or $350 to attend elementary school in Kalispell. Tuition is meant to recoup a portion of money that would otherwise be paid to schools through taxes.

School districts have the option to waive tuition, but it must be done equally for an entire group (such as all parents), according to state law.

Flatau, like some trustees, said he would have liked to offer tuition waivers for out-of-district students whose parents are employees, but said, “We really have no options here.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].