The School Board reviewed and set tuition rates for non-resident students at its recent meeting, following updates to Policy JFAB, Admission and Attendance of Non-Resident Students. The policy change requires the Board to formally establish tuition amounts for students who live outside Londonderry but wish to attend district schools.
Superintendent Dan Black presented two options for the Board to consider, noting that the district has historically relied on past practice when determining tuition rates.
“With the new policy update for JFAB, the School Board will need to set a tuition rate,” Black said. “There are two recommendations we are making based on past practice, but the School Board can certainly determine other ways as well.”
Option 1: Base Tuition on Hooksett’s MOU Rate
This option would use the tuition rate already established in the district’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hooksett. Under that agreement, Hooksett pays Londonderry $17,910 per high school student for the upcoming year.
“In the past, when other families in other school districts ask to attend Londonderry High, we quote the tuition rate in our MOU,” Black explained. “So that makes a lot of sense to continue with that as our tuition rate. The only problem is, we do not have a clear rate for K–8.”
To address that gap, Black proposed using the ratio between Hooksett’s high school tuition and Londonderry’s high school per-pupil spending to calculate proportional rates for middle and elementary school students.
The New Hampshire Department of Education lists Londonderry’s per-pupil spending as:
- High School: $20,365
- Middle School: $19,123
- Elementary School: $23,067
Using the Hooksett to per-pupil ratio, Black recommended the following tuition rates:
- High School: $17,910
- Middle School: $16,828
- Elementary School: $20,299
“If the School Board likes that option, we would then just update the rate yearly based on our Hooksett tuition versus our per-pupil spending calculated by the NH DOE,” Black said.
This method keeps tuition aligned with an existing agreement and avoids charging nonresident families more than Hooksett pays.
Option 2: Charge Full per-pupil Spending Amounts
The second option would set tuition equal to the district’s full per-pupil spending amounts at each grade level. Black noted that this approach is simpler to explain, especially for elementary and middle school families.
However, he questioned whether it made sense to charge nonresident families more than Hooksett, which sends a larger number of students under a longstanding agreement.
“I do not have a good reason why we would ask others to pay more than the Hooksett rate at all three levels other than to generate more revenue,” Black wrote.
Under this option, tuition for 2026–27 would be:
- High School: $20,365
- Middle School: $19,123
- Elementary School: $23,067
After reviewing both approaches, the School Board agreed to move forward with Option 1, using the Hooksett MOU rate as the basis for all grade levels and applying proportional adjustments for K–8.
The decision provides consistency with past practice and ensures that tuition remains aligned with an existing contractual rate.