Peoria Public Schools employees who live outside of the district will continue to pay $5,000 a year if they want their kids to attend Peoria schools.
With board member Larry Ivory absent, school board members deadlocked 3-3 on waiving the tuition fee entirely, or cutting it in half.
District employees who live outside the district boundaries currently get a 45% discount on tuition if they opt to send their child to Peoria schools. A change to state law in 2023 allows districts to offer free tuition to those students.
Currently, superintendent Sharon Kherat says the situation applies to just four students in the district. Kherat said state lawmakers tweaked the law because they believed free tuition may help districts with teacher recruitment and retention.
Board member Christina Rose said free tuition could help "rock star" teachers who live outside the district and struggle to keep their schedules synched up with those of their kids.
"I think that this could be a great motivator to bring their kids to our district, and then maybe they'll love it so much, they will move into our district and they will pay our property taxes," Rose said. "But even if they never moved, if they brought their students, and they were on the same schedule, we're way more likely to retain them."
Board president Paris McConnell said she had reservations about waiving tuition fees completely because teachers living outside the district aren't paying taxes into Peoria schools.
"Every parent needs to have that same vested interest in our district, because nothing is free. It just doesn't happen like that," McConnell said. "And if that teacher is here, they're getting paid to be here. So we are compensating them from our from our tax base, and I think it's only fair."
Board members McConnell, Lynne Costic, and Martha Ross voted in favor of a $2,500 tuition fee, while Rose, Gregory Wilson, and Chanel Hargrave-Murry voted to waive the fee.
The measure could be brought back up for another vote when Ivory is present to break the tie.
