School system’s closed borders policy

By Eddie West

Staff Writer

The county’s school system will retain it’s “closed border” policy for students attending local schools, following action taken by the county’s school board.

It’s an issue which has been discussed at length by the school board members in previous years and surfaced at its June meeting under the agenda line item “Request to approve tuition amounts for non-resident students”.

“If we vote for this we’re opening a Pandora’s Box,” warned veteran school board member and Chairman Ricky Shoulders, who has been through this debate before.

The school board chairman warned allowing students from other counties to pay a tuition and to attend Smith County’s school system could create a slew of legal issues.

Chairman Shoulders noted among the complications would be school buses traveling into other counties to pick up students.

School board members also expressed concerns about some schools at or near capacity in student enrollment.

In addition, a single student could result in the need to hire an additional teacher in order to meet a mandated student-teacher ratio.

If the proposal had passed, it would have allowed the director of schools to determine if a student living outside the county could attend a school within the county by paying a tuition fee.

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